Kidocho: Redux
by Jaden Lord of L33t
Summary: A story in which one Uzumaki Naruto dies and is brought to Soul Society, becomes a Kido Master, and later joins Ichigo in his adventures
1. Ch1 The Death and Life of Uzumaki Naruto

_Hello fellow fan fiction readers and writers, Jaden here with first chapter of the revamped version of Kidocho. Also if you were a fan of Hollow Inside I'm sorry but I lost my inspiration for that particular story, however if anybody would like to take over it, P.M me._

_As a disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, or Negima, or any other licensed or trademarked productions.......  
_

_Now on with the story

* * *

_

The scent of destruction hung heavily in the air. The smells of burning debris, generated by buildings that had been reduced to rubble in seconds, and the stench of the deaths of hundreds, were woven together.

Panting heavily Uzumaki Naruto quickly surveyed the wasteland that had once been his home, the shinobi village hidden in the leaves, Konohagakure no Sato. Behind him lay the remains of five of the bodies of his most fearsome enemy to date, one Nagato of Amegakure, more commonly known as the shinobi terrorist Pein.

After checking to make sure the other bodies were fully non responsive, Naruto focused on his next opponent. Directly in front of him stood the final body of his foe, a man with medium length spiky orange hair, he had six piercings, a metal bar through each ear, three studs through the side of his upper nose, and one spike stud on each end of the bottom lip. What was especially disconcerting, was that the man was completely unscathed, there wasn't even a rip in black Akatsuki cloak.

"You're very strong," the man spoke suddenly his purplish eyes boring straight into Naruto's own sapphire blues, "No one has ever given Pein this much trouble before." He raised his right hand while a black spike materialized in his left, "But you won't win."

Something took a hold of Naruto with a crushing power. The blond ninja was helpless as Pein's technique took effect dragging him forward against his will, before he could even blink Naruto found himself staring eye to eye with the emotionless grayish-purple orbs representing the Rinnegan blood-limit.

"Goodbye Uzumaki Naruto, with your death the Kyuubi will be set free, and the world will be mine," intoned Pein flatly.

It wasn't until Pein moved his hand, that Naruto realized the black spike was lodged in directly into his heart. As Naruto struggled to move his arms, Pein placed his hand on Naruto's chest and whispered "Shinra Tensei."  
With a violent surge of chakra Naruto was blasted completely out of the crater that was once Konoha, as darkness began creeping into his vision he distinctly remembered someone screaming "NO!" and then there was nothing.

* * *

With a start Naruto opened his eyes, wincing slightly as they readjusted to the light."What the hell just happened, " he muttered softly. As he turned his head to the side he noted the large trees in the surroundings. "I'm outside the village," he mused to himself.  
"The village!!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his feet as the memory of his last fight flooded into his mind, "I have to get back!"

With practiced ease, Naruto charged chakra to his legs, but just as he was about to jump away he felt a tug on his chest and stomach. Looking down he discovered two chains on his torso leading off into the distance. One of the chains was sticking out from between his pectorals, however, the other chain was located directly on _the seal._

His blood ran cold at the sight of a chain protruding from the seal of the Kyūbi no Yōko.  
"What the hell?" Naruto bellowed . "Why the hell are they're chains stuck in me!? he shouted, his voice echoing softly.  
When no one answered Naruto fell silent. "Might as well see where they lead," he mumbled as he began following the chains, wrapping the excess around his hand, noting that they were ice cold.

When the chains grew taut he found himself standing in front of a large tree with the chains going behind it, fearing that he had been somehow chained to a tree while unconscious, Naruto quickly moved forward.....

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?," roared Naruto in anger and shock, because, lying on the ground in front of him was himself.

His own body lay in front of his eyes, tattered clothes and new hole in chest and all, eerily silent and unmoving. "This can't be happening,"Naruto panicked. "What the hell is going on?" "This can't be happening, this can't be me!"  
So preoccupied was Naruto with the strange phenomenon in front of him, that he did not notice the materialization of an old Japanese shoji behind him.

* * *

The sight of one blond teenager screaming to the heavens was what one Urahara Kisuke was greeted by as he stepped through the Senkaimon. _"So this is the one," _mused Kisuke to himself as he watched Naruto. _"Lively isn't he?." _

After observing the other blond for a few moments, Kisuke cleared his throat loudly. Naruto froze in mid rant at the sound and whirled around, his hand instinctively reaching for a kunai, only to grasp at nothing. His blue eyes roamed over the newcomer taking in the white shitagi, the black kosode and hakama, and white tabi, and waraji the man wore. Then his eyes fell on the sheathed sword at the man's side.

Kisuke noted the teens look and raised his hands in a placating manner, "Easy, I'm not here to fight," he said. "My name is Urahara Kisuke, what's yours?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied warily, never taking his eyes off of the older man's face.

"Look, I bet you're wondering what is going on," said Kisuke gently, as he stepped forward.

"No shit" retorted Naruto sarcastically.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Naruto-kun but I'm afraid you're dead," stated Kisuke.

Expecting another outburst from the teen, Kisuke was surprised when Naruto merely slumped forward, and sighed.  
"I kinda figured that, guess that means I'm a ghost" the teen muttered. " You know, it's funny I always my pictured Death being kinda different," he said, almost as an afterthought. " I was expecting the whole grim reaper harvesting my soul with a scythe thing, ya know?"

Kisuke laughed at that, "Most people have their own idea of death my boy, but bee that as it may, I am a Shinigami, and I am here to take you to Soul Society."

"Soul Society?" what's that, asked Naruto.

"It's what you mortals refer to as heaven," explained Kisuke. "I myself am part of a special program in Soul Society, and I was chosen to ferry your soul for a very specific reason."

Let me guess, you mean Kyūbi, don't you," muttered Naruto sullenly.

"Yes, in order to seal away the Kyūbi the man you know as Yondaime summoned one of us, quite a feat for a human you know, and struck a deal." "Now that you are dead, I am here to finish what was started."  
Kisuke strode past the soul form of Naruto and stood over the teens corpse. "You might want to step back," warned the Shinigami. With a quick practiced move, Kisuke unsheathed the sword at his side and sliced straight through the chain attached to the seal, then seamlessly jumped back a good 20 feet.

The moment the chain was cut red chakra burst out of the seal like a torrent of flames. Within moments the chakra formed a gigantic fox-like form, becoming more and more solidified, until....

"**I AM FREE**,"boomed to voice of the mighty demon fox, Kyūbi no Yōko, as it stood in the mortal plane for the first time in fifteen years. **"Now I shall have my revenge!" **

"I'm afraid not," spoke Kisuke, his voice easily picked up by the beast. "In fact you're about to leave this plane of existence entirely."

**"Impudence!" **roared the fox. **"Who dares challenge me?" **The fox turned it's furious gaze on the blond shinigami, and roared loudly.**  
**

"Yare yare," commented Kisuke idly, completely unfazed by the creature's fury. "You're very loud."

**"I will dest…" **

"Be silent, "commanded the Shinigami, he raised his hands and spoke again. "Bakudō no nijyu roku: Tetsu no Kusari _(chains of iron)._

Naruto watched in awe as hundreds of iron chains burst out of the ground, and wrapped around the demon fox immobilizing it. No matter what the beast tried to do free it's self, nothing worked.

Urahara smiled, "That's better," he said softly. 'Now then, it is time to finish this." Focusing his spiritual energy into his legs he took off in a massive jump, and landed mid-air directly in front of the Fox's eyes. He swiftly unsheathed his sword once more stared at the demon straight into the eye, smiled and said "Goodbye," slamming to hilt of his blade right onto the creatures face.

* * *

A blast of golden light appeared taking the shape of a rectangle even bigger than the fox itself, the translucent rectangle seemingly pulsed once, flashing brightly and then faded away revealing a gargantuan black doorway held shut by a massive chain, and adorned with the bandaged head and torso of a giant skeleton on each side.

Naruto watched fascinated as the skeletons pulled to door open revealing a yawing blackness, a darkness that seemed to suck in light itself. One of the skeleton creatures stretched out its hand and took hold of the immobilized demon fox, and brought it, stuggling vainly the entire time straight into the blackness. The moment the fox was inside, the doors slammed shut and disappeared. Kisuke gently floated down from the air, dropping to the ground silently.

"Wha.. what was that?" asked Naruto, both awestruck and terrified, what he had just seen was a sight not meant for mortal eyes.

"The Gates of Hell," replied Kisuke darkly as he held his sword out horizontally, before turning it sideways like a key. A traditional shoji materialized before the two blonds, and slid open. "Now then it is time to go," ordered Kisuke cheerfully.

"But wait there's so much I need to ask you" said Naruto. "What is Soul Society like, is the Kyūbi really gone, is..."

"Don't worry all of your questions will be answered soon," Kisuke said with a smile. He stepped forward gently tapped Naruto's head with the hilt of his sword

* * *

The moment the hilt of touched his forehead, the remaining chain, which had still been attached to Naruto's chest vanished.

At the same time Kisuke sheathed his blade, and began walking towards the shoji, and waited until two black butterflies floated out of the doorway.  
"Come with me Naruto, the world of the living is not your world anymore,"he said somberly, before stepping through the gateway.

For a moment Naruto contemplated staying behind, but something deep inside of his soul, knew that it would not be a good thing to do. So with a sigh and a shrug, he too stepped through the doorway.  
On the other side, Naruto found Kisuke waiting in a long dark tunnel. "Wow there really is a tunnel with a light at the end of it," Naruto commented sardonically.

Urahara chuckled lightly, and began walking briskly towards the light, motioning for Naruto to follow. When they at last stepped into the light, Naruto felt as if a weight was lifted from his body, and he noticed that he felt noticeably stronger.  
Looking around he discovered that he and Kisuke now stood large courtyard of sorts, but before he could even blink a person clad in what appeared to be an old shinobi shōzoku appeared before them. Startled Naruto leapt back his shinobi training kicking into overdrive again, as he shifted into a defensive position.

Yamamoto-, sōtaichō has ordered that you appear before him immediately after you arrive," the unknown man spoke addressing Urahara, completely ignoring Naruto.

"Understood," replied Urahara in a clipped tone of voice. "Dismissed."

With a quick salute the man disappeared as fast as he appeared, one second he was there, the next he was gone.

"Take my hand Naruto-kun," said Kisuke, "It's time to go see my boss." Despite his slight hesitation Naruto obeyed and took Urahara's hand.  
For a second he felt nothing, but then he was pulled off his feet, whilst the details of the world blurred before his eyes.

When the world appeared in focus again Naruto let go of Kisuke's hand, his head swimming.  
"Sorry, I forgot how shunpo feels to the inexperienced," his older companion apologized softly.

Once he felt better Naruto noticed that He and Urahara were in a room with twelve other people similarly dressed to Urahara. Eleven of the people stood in two lines on facing eachother, and in the center was an old man sitting in a high backed chair, with his hands folded atop a gnarled staff.

"Jūnibantai-taichō*, Urahara Kisuke, reporting a successful mission," announced Kisuke, addressing the old man who Naruto correctly assumed to be the leader.  
"The Kyuubi no Yoko has been successfully returned to Hell, and former jinchūriki Uzumaki Naruto has been brought without incident into the Soul Society." He motioned for Naruto to step forward, who did so without hesitation.

"Uzumaki Naruto," spoke the old man, his voice gravely, his tone serious. "I am Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni- sōtaichō* of the Goteijūsantai*." "You are here due to the rather special circumstances surrounding your entire life," he said. "Fifteen years ago a man from your world breached the dimensional walls and summoned one of the Royal Guardians of the King of Soul Society to aid him in his fight." The man, Yamamoto, paused for a moment before continuing, " By way of an ancient pact this man traded his very soul as payment to lock the Kyūbi away until the day you died, due to your status as a former jinchūriki and your skills as a shinobi, we believe that you have the capacity to become a shinigami, wiith your consent we would like to administer some tests to gauge you're capacity."

"Um, what exactly is it you shinigami do," questioned Naruto. He was rather curious as to what Shinigami did on a day to day basis.

Instead of Yamamoto replying it was Kisuke who spoke up, "A shinigami has many responsibilities, ranging from keeping the peace in Soul Society, to ferrying souls on the mortal planes along to the after life." "Also, one of our main responsibilities is the cleansing of Hollows," he said.

"Hollows?" asked Naruto, something told him that Hollows weren't very pleasant.

"Hollows are a race of creatures which are born from Human souls who, for various reasons, do not cross over to Soul Society after their death., if the soul is consumed with regrets about its life,it becomes a monstrous creature that devours the souls of both living and deceased humans," explained Kisuke. "As a shinigami it is our responsibility to use our powers to protect the mortal world, and purify the Hollows."

"Purify?" asked Naruto. "What do you mean?" he was getting tired of not knowing anything.

"We shinigami use our Zanpakutō," at this Urahara gestured to the sword at his side, "To "kill" Hollows." "Of course the Hollow is not truly killed; its spirit is purified of the sins it committed, and the spirit is sent to enter the Soul Society."

"So you use your powers to protect the living?" asked Naruto for clarification.

That's right," replied Urahara.

"Well then I would gladly become a Shinigami," procalimed Naruto with a smile, I'd do anything to protect those who are precious to me!

"Excellent!"boomed Yamamoto, pleased with the youth's attitude, "_We need more men like him,"_ mused the old man.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho, with your permission I would like to begin the test immediately," announced Urahara grandly.

"Permission granted," Yamato replied. "You are dismissed!" he commanded, while slamming the hilt of his staff on the ground once.

Kisuke held out his hand once more, "Come along Naruto and we'll begin," he said with a smile.

This time, Naruto braced himself as he took Urahara's hand. He waited for a second and then he was pulled off his feet, while the details of the world once again blurred before his eyes

* * *

_Please Review I like constructive criticism but no flames, if you have any ideas post them or pm me _

_Sōtaichō- (Captain-Commander)_

_Taichō (Unit Commander or Captain)_

_Goteijūsantai-(13 Division Imperial Guards, or the 13 Guard Squads)_

_Shōzoku - a type of dark-colored clothing, traditionally worn by practitioners of the Japanese martial art of ninjutsu_

_Shinigami (Soul Reaper or Death God)_

_Jūnibantai (12th squad or division 12)_


	2. Chapter 2

Hello fellow fan fiction readers Jaden here with the second chapter of Kidocho: Redux

_As a disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, or Negima, or any other licensed or trademarked productions......._

_Now on with the story

* * *

_

**_Last time....._**

_Kisuke held out his hand to Naruto once more, "Come along Naruto and we'll begin the testing," he said with a smile._

_This time Naruto braced himself before he took Urahara's hand, again he waited for a moment before he was pulled off his feet, while the details of the world blurred away before his eyes._

_

* * *

_

When the world slipped back into focus, Naruto noted that after effects of high speed travel this time were a lot less prevalent. After steadying his breath to clear away his slight dizziness, he discovered Kisuke, and himself standing were standing at the front of a walled off compound, with the only visible entrance to the area, being a massive door with the kanji for 12 marked inside a large black diamond.

"Welcome Naruto-kun the the Twelfth Division Headquarters," declared Urahara pointing to the compound, with a flourish, and a smile affixed to his face. "The home of all 12th Division Shinigami, and the Headquaters of the SRDI."

"The what now?" asked Naruto, "Whats the SRDI?"

"It's, short for Shinigami Research, and Development Institute," replied Kisuke. "It's a little project that I, a handsome and modest Captain, have become quite proud of," he continued proudly. "We create gadgets and devices that make life as a Shinigami easier, plus we are in charge of monitoring for all abnormal spiritual activity in the real world, now come along we have some test to run."

As the elder blond breezed past him, Naruto watched in surprise as Kisuke pushed open the massive doors of the compound by himself, for such a lanky man his strength was incredible. Looking around he saw that the inside of the complex consisted of six large stone and wood buildings, and a large garden, with a moderate sized koi pond

A moment later Naruto heard the sound of someone running towards them; however, before he could move into a defensive stance, a short girl with wild blond hair pulled into two messy pigtails, appeared, seemingly from nowhere, directly in front of him, who then proceeded to swiftly kick Kisuke square in the face, knocking the older Shinigami flat on his ass.

"Oi whats the big idea dick-head?," the girl demanded roughly, while kicking Urahara in the side."How dare you go on a mission to the human world without me," she continued angrily.

"Itai that hurts," moaned Urahara pathetically as he feebly inched away from his violent companion.

"What the hell," said Naruto, with a snort of laughter as he took in the rather comical scene.

The girl whirled around to face him, for a moment she seemed honestly confused at his presence, clearly she had been so focused on hurting Kisuke, that she had been wholly unaware of anything else. Then a heartbeat later the look of confusion disappeared, replaced by a look of annoyance. "Who are you?" the girl demanded rudely.

Before Naruto could respond Kisuke, who had risen, oddly unscathed, and composed himself, cut in. " Maa Hiyori-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto, he is why I went to the real world," he said.

"Che, they sent a Captain to ferry this weakling," said the girl now identified as Hiyori

At the word weakling Naruto lost his temper, "Who the hell do you think you are calling me a weakling, you little brat!!" he roared. Hiyori visibly twitched at his response, while Kisuke went pale.

"Who are you calling a little brat, shit head!" screamed Hiyori. "I'll have you know that I'm over 50 years old."

"Oh so then I should call you Old Lady," yelled Naruto, his temper flaring.

"I'm gonna crush you," shrieked Hiyori, her right hand reaching for the sword strapped to the back of her uniform.

"You can try midget," shot back Naruto as he stuck his tongue out petulantly.

With a scream of frustration the shorter girl launched a powerful kick at Naruto, fully intent on giving the male teen, the beating of his life. Unfortunately, to her immense surprise Naruto, reacting faster than she could see, had risen his arm and deflected her kick with minimal effort.

"Is that all you've got?" demanded Naruto as he blocked an attempted punch to the gut,"I thought you were gonna "Crush" me."

Incensed by his taunts, Hiyori resumed her attack, but to her frustration every punch and kick she threw at the other blond was either, blocked, deflected or dodged with ease.

Finally after nearly ten minutes of watching the two youths go at it, Kisuke decided to step in. Before Hiyori could throw another punch he appeared behind her, "Hiyori," he said softly, placing his hand on her head "That's enough."  
Hiyori ignored him, intent on wiping off the smile that had appeared on Naruto's face; however, before she could move so much as a single step Urahara spoke again this time harshly and forcefully, "I said, That's Enough!"

Hiyori froze at his frigid tone, and instantly stood down. The she roughly shook off Urahara's hand, "Che, I'm outta here," she said and stomped away. Urahara sighed in exasperation, and began walking to the center building of the compound, motioning for Naruto to follow.

Once he was sure the girl was out of hearing distance Naruto spoke to Urahara, "Who was that weirdo?" he asked.

"That was my Lieutenant Hiyori Sarugaki, replied Urahara. "I must apologize for her actions, she is rather sensitive about her appearance, and not very good with other people."

Naruto waved off his apology with a smile, "Don't worry about it, for a brat she's pretty fun."  
"_And pretty cute,"_ he thought, but didn't voice this particular comment.

Urahara smiled, glad that Naruto wasn't offended by his Lieutenant. "Well, based on you and Hiyori-chan's little display, I think we can skip normal Hakuda test," he said. "I believe that I have a fairly accurate idea of where your hand to hand combat skill level is." The blond duo stepped inside the building, and Naruto noticed the computers beeping softly, and several other odd looking machines humming. Urahara walked over to a closed door near the back, "I'll be right back," he said. "Please wait here, I'll be right back with the things we need."

A few moments later Kisuke returned bearing two large crystal balls, and two wooden katana, "We'll do the remaining tests outside as well," he said.  
Naruto nodded and followed him outside.

They walked for a bit before stopping an an unoccupied grassy area, after setting down the crystal balls, Urahara tossed one of the katanas to Naruto, who caught it midair and gave it a few swings getting used to it's weight. "First we will be testing your aptitude for Zanjutsu," explained Urahara. " All then, when you feel ready come at me."

Naruto cursed to himself, while he had been alive he had always wanted to learn how to use a sword, but he had kept putting if off. With a quite sigh he charged forward with a simple side-swing, and as he had expected Urahara easily blocked the strike. In an odd parallel to his earlier fight with Hiyori each attack Naruto tried was easily blocked or dodged with minimal effort on Urahara's part.

After about a half hour Urahara held up his hand, signaling the end of the test, Naruto sighed, as he dropped his hands, he was disappointed that he had been unable to even land a single hit on Kisuke.

"All right Naruto, I now have an accurate assessment of your Zanjutsu skill level, I can tell you're completely inexperienced with sword fighting, but not to worry, with training you'll improve, now lets move on to reiryoku assessment."

Naruto nodded and placed his wooden sword on the ground, after Kisuke handed him one of the crystal balls. "In your realm you utilized a type of energy known as chakra correct?" asked Urahara. Naruto nodded again, "I need you to find the energy inside your soul form now," continued Kisuke.

Naruto closed his eyes to help himself concentrate and turn his attention inward, almost immediately he noticed a sort of energy lying dormant inside of himself, "Ano what am I supposed to do," he asked aloud after opening his eyes.

"Bring that energy into your hands and begin feeding it into the crystal ball, don't be discouraged if nothing happens on your first try," commented Kisuke. Then as a demonstration he too began feeding his reiryoku into the other crystal ball.

Kisuke's crystal pulsed once, before a crimson bubble of energy, five feet in diameter materialized, with the elder man in the exact center. "Go on, Naruto, give it a try," encouraged Kisuke.

With but a thought Naruto effortlessly began channeling the dormant energy through his hands and into his crystal ball.

Kisukewatched astonished as a perfectly circular emerald reiryoku orb formed around Naruto almost instantly. "_His control is perfect_," he mused to himself silently, "_Quite impressive_."  
"All right Naruto, now I need you bring your reiryoku back inside your body," he commanded.

Once again Kisuke watched fascinated as Naruto flawlessly manipulated his reiryoku, easily pulling the energy forming the bubble back into his body. "Very good Naruto your reiryoku control is excellent," he said clapping his hands. "_Understatement of the century,"_ he thought to himself.

Naruto smiled at the praise, pleased with himself. "Kisuke-san," he asked. "What exactly do Shinigami use their reiryoku for, I mean in my old world chakra was used to power many types of jutsu."

That's a very good question, Naruto-kun," replied Urahara. " Many Shinigami use reiryoku to augment their physical capabilities, but for most, reiryoku is mainly used to power Kido."

"Kido?" asked Naruto, wholly unfamiliar with the term.

"Kido are spells that we shinigami use to combat Hollows." "These spells can be used for a variety of things such as healing, defense, or combat," replied Urahara.

"Could you please show me one"? asked Naruto with stars in his eyes, fascinated by the prospect of these powers, even in Life, he has always looked forward to learning new powerful techniques

Kisuke chuckled, "Sure," he said. "Lets see which one to use," he mused quitely._ "Ah I've got it." _

Naruto watched raptly as Kisuke raised his right hand, palm pointing out, while placing his left hand, palm down, on his forearm. A ball of red light, a couple of inches smaller in diameter than a basketball, appeared in the outward facing palm.

"Hadō no sanjyu ichi: Shakkahō"(_Hadō__ 31: Shot of red fire) _cried Kisuke, watching with satisfaction as the ball of destruction sped away from his hands.

Naruto watched stunned as the orb flew a good distance away before it slammed into the ground detonating in a large, violent explosion.

"That was soooo coooool," Naruto declared loudly, waving his arms up and down childishly.

Before Kisuke could reply, another Shinigami, this one dressed in a normal black shihakusho, appeared in the training aread with some papers in his hands, "Urahara-taicho, I need you to take a look at this," the man said, thrusting the papers in his Captain's face.

Just as Kisuke began to tell the other shinigami he was busy, he sensed Naruto flaring his reiryoku, and yell something from behind.

"Hadō no sanjyu ichi: Shakkahō!!"

Kisuke whirled around and watched with his jaw dropped open, as Naruto executed a flawless Kido on his first very first attempt.

"Impossible," whispered Kisuke in shock.

* * *

(flash back, 30 seconds ago)

Without consciously knowing what he was doing, Naruto mimicked the exact pose Kisuke had been in moments ago, pulling out the energy of his soul, and letting his it flow in the same manner as he had sensed from Kisuke. He watched, fascinated, as the same type of red ball of pure destructive power shimmered into existence in front of his palm.

"Hadō no sanjyu ichi: Shakkahō!!," Naruto bellowed, causing the powerful sphere to fly away from him, and he watched happily as it exploded violently a good fifty yards away.

His jubilation was cut short seconds later, when he felt Kisuke's hand land heavily on his shoulder. Naruto froze, fearing he had broken some sort of rule. However, when he turned to face the other man what he saw on Urahara's face was not anger, it was a look akin to disbelief.

Kisuke stared silently at the crater Naruto's Kidō spell had just created, deep in thought. "_There's no doubt about it,_" he thought. "_Naruto-kun's Shakkahō was absolutely perfect, its astounding!_"

Such an act was unheard of, while many shinigami were adept in Kidō, it still took at the very least months of training to be able to use spells higher than level 20, let one alone without an incantation. Urahara suspected that Naruto's perfect reiryoku control may have been the key to it, so he decided to perform one more test.

"Naruto-kun I would like to try something, one last test you could say," said Kisuke with his customary smile appearing back in place.

At the sight of the smile reappearing, Naruto noticeably relaxed. "Sure thing Kisuke-san," he said. "What do I need to do?"

"I am going to demonstrate another Kidō spell, and afterward I want you to perform it," replied Urahara. Naruto nodded his to head, to show his willing compliance.

_"Hmmn, which spell to try_," mused Kisuke to himself, he needed a spell that would be difficult to perform, but not impossible. After a few moments of deliberation he settled upon a moderately difficult Hadō.

Naruto watched intently as Urahara held his both his arms out horizontally, palms facing out and began gathering his reiryoku into them. After a few seconds Urahara spoke firmly, "Hadō no Gojyu Shichi (57): Kakusan Kikou Ha."

From Kisuke's palms erupted a yellow beam of raw reiryoku, that was easily double the strength of the Shakkahō spell. The beam hurtled forward for nearly a hundred yards before sharply veering upwards into the sky.

Naruto craned his neck back, and continued to watch, instinctively sensing, and memorizing the way Kisuke's reiryoku currently flowed.

Then the yellow beam attack performed a near 180 in the air, and then exploded into a hail of compressed energy balls, peppering the ground with over two dozen baseball sized 5 inch deep craters.

Kisuke faced Naruto and dropped his arms, "Now it's your turn," he said lightly

Naruto nodded and held his arms out in front of himself, and began gathering his reiryoku. After mentally going over the flow pattern for the reiryoku one more time, he called out, "Hadō no Gojyu Shichi: Kakusan Kikou Ha."

Kisuke watched in satisfaction as Naruto perfectly performed his second Kidō spell with the same ease as he had done with his first, still astonished by the boys natural talent.

When the last condensed energy ball faded away Kisuke poke up. "Well done Naruto-kun, that was very impressive," he said. "Your natural talent with Kidō is quite frankly astonishing, and what you've just done should be impossible."

At Naruto's questioning gaze Kisuke continued, "Naruto you just performed two mid-level Kidō without breaking a sweat, it takes most shinigami months to move past the basics." "Frankly what's more incredible, is that you manged them both without the incantation, at full power."

"Incantation?" asked Naruto blankly, unsure as to what Urahara was going on about.

"Normally when a shinigami uses a Kidō spell, they recite a specific incantation before hand," explained Urahara. "The incantation is used to guide one's reiryoku into the correct flow pattern, however with practice one can skip the incantation."

"But you said I could use a spell without the incantation at full power," said Naruto. "What did you mean?"

"While it is true that over time one can skip the incantation, the spell is normally drastically weakened," explained Urahara. "When one can perform a spell, at full power, without an incantation they have achieved mastery of the spell, it takes most shinigami at least a year of practice before mastery of a single spell, occasionally it's just a few months for those who are really proficient in reiryolu manipulation."

"However you, Naruto-kun, in less than an hour have mastered two spells already, well done."

Naruto beamed at the praise he was given, immensely pleased that he had found something that he was really good at. "You know, it's probably because I've already had a lot of practice in manipulating one type of energy, reiryoku moves almost the same way as chakra does, but it feels different," he noted to Kisuke.

"Well Naruto-kun based on this little display, I've concluded that the best place to put you would be with the Kidōshu," said Kisuke thoughtfully.

"Kidōshu?" asked Naruto, but Kisuke waved off his question, "I am going to contact my friend Tessai, he will want to speak with you." With that Kisuke disappeared leaving Naruto to his own devices, who promptly began firing off a few Shakkahō.

* * *

One hour later four people were gathered into Urahara's private office, each sitting down around a table for some tea. On one side of the table Naruto sat next to Hiyori, who looked rather less than pleased at his presence, she both pointedly, and angrily ignored him. On the other side of the table Urahara sat next to a man who looked almost as strange as Maito Gai. The rather tall deeply tanned man, wore thick square glasses, under his heavy set eyebrows, plus he had the thickest mustache that Naruto had ever seen.

The man, who Naruto had been introduced to as Tessai took a sip of his tea before addressing Naruto in his rather deep and gravelly voice, "Urahara-san has informed me that you've managed to do something quite remarkable Naruto-kun," he said. "Would you care to explain how?"he asked casually.

Naruto sipped his tea calmly before answering, "The only way how I can describe it, is that I while I watched Kisuke-san mentally sensed and memorized how his reiryoku energy flowed, and then I just made my own follow the same pattern."

Tessai nodded his head thoughtfully, " I see, if you don't mind I would like a demonstration," he said.

Naruto drained the dregs of his tea, and said, "Sure!" enthusiastically

The four left the office and traveled back to the training ground where Naruto had practiced earlier. Tessai stood in front, and signaled that he would begin. He raised a single hand above his head palm out to the sky, and began channeling up his reiryoku into his arm. "Hadō no jyu roku (16): Kienzan!!" Tessai called out firmly.

With his concentration focused solely on the man in front of him, Naruto watched as a orange disk of reiryoku shimmered into existence, hovering centimeters over Tessai's palm. The disk began to spin, quickly gaining speed until it gave off an audible hum. A few moments later, Tessai threw the disk, as hard as he could at some trees. The group watched as the orange disk cut it's way through nearly twenty trees before dissipating instantly. Then Tessai stepped back and motioned for Naruto to begin.

Holding his right hand in the air Naruto charged up his reiryoku, until a emerald disk formed above his palm. "Hadō no jyu roku: Kienzan," Naruto murmured, while his body subconsciously performed the attack flawlessly his consciousness was thinking, "_This attack...it's almost the same as my Rasenshuriken."_

When his Kienzan faded away Naruto turned back to Tessai expectantly, pleased that he had learned yet another spell.

"That was indeed a flawless Kidō," Tessai rumbled in a pleased tone. "Well done, I can see why Urahara-san recommended you for the Kidōshu."

"Ano, what exactly is the Kidōshu?" asked Naruto, Kisuke had said the same thing earlier, but had brushed off his question.

"The Kidōshu is a unit that is adjunct to the Gotei 13, dedicated to the use, mastery, and creation of Kidō that are used to protect and aid all souls ," replied Tessai. "As I am the current Kidōshu Soshi, it is well within my power to bring you in, however, ultimately the choice is yours."

With a broad smile on his face Naruto proclaimed, "I accept, and I swear someday I will be the greatest Kidō master ever.!"

* * *

_And Done With Chapter 2, Hooray for quick updates......_

_Next chapter will be set years in the future and will be kinda short cuz it's mostly filler..... _

_Leave me some reviews but no flames _

_Peace_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello faithful readers, and welcome to chapter three of Kidocho Redux  
_

_Whoooo!_

_Now as a forewarning there has been a time-skip: the reason, I don't feel like fully detailing the 120 years Naruto lives in Soul Society before Bleach starts, but fear not the you'll learn about how he got here  
_

_As a disclaimer I do not own Naruto, Bleach, or DBZ, or Negima, or any other trademarked and or licensed production, fictional or otherwise, most of the story line ideas are mine though._

_Now on with the story_

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Soul Society, the sun was shining, and there was nary a cloud in the azure sky. Despite the beauty, all was not well, a heavy oppressive air of tension hung over the court of pure souls.

Within his office, deep inside the first division compound, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni**, **the sōtaichō of the Gotei 13, waited impatiently.

His impatience stemmed from the invasion perpetrated by five ryoka currently raging within Soul Society. While the general populace remained unharmed, there had been a few notable exceptions. Madarame Ikkaku, 3rd seat of the 11th Division had confronted one of the ryoka moments after the invasion had begun three days before. Despite the odds being in Ikkaku's favor, the fight ended with the 3rd seat being critically injured, and placed within the intensive care unit inside the 4th Division Hospital.

Then, not even a full day later Lieutenant Abarai Renji, of the Sixth Division, had confronted the same ryoka, and he too was critically injured. It been infuriating to know that some ryoka had Lieutenant level strength.

Today, Soul Society was dealt an even greater blow to it's pride. Earlier that day, Captain Zaraki Kenpachi of the 11th division had been defeated. Zaraki Kenpachi was a man, if he could even be called as such, who _thrived_ on fighting, seriously, breathing and fighting was the man's existence summed in a nutshell. And he had been _beaten,_ by a human no less. It almost made Yamamoto sick to think about it.

After Kenpachi's reiatsu had dropped to alarming levels that Yamamoto decided to bring in some help, he decided to call in an old ally, one of the strongest people in Soul Society to meet with him.

It was two minutes past noon, when a familiar reiryoku signature appeared behind his door. Yamamoto ceased his reflection on the past few days, and at the soft knock on his door spoke, "Come in."

On the other side of the door, a blond haired man, who seemed to be about 20 years or so old smiled as he entered, "Ohaiyo, Yama-jiji," the man greeted jovially once he was inside.

With a sigh at the disrespectful nickname, Yamamoto focused his full attention on the man, taking in the youth's appearance at the same time. The newcomer stood at about 5"10 and wore the standard shinigami garb, with a blue robe over top. The robe had the insignia of the Kidōshū stitched on both pectorals; signifying the owner as the Commander of the Kidō Corps.

" Do you know why you are here?" asked Yamamoto bluntly, unwilling to wanting to waste any time on simple pleasantries.

"Of course I do, you need me to take care of the nasty ryoka that's been wiping the floor with you guys," replied the man with a small laugh, and Yamamoto bit back a grimace.  
"Don't worry, I know just where to start."

At Yamamto's nod of affirmation the man grinned wildly, then without a word Uzumaki Naruto, Kidōshū Sōshi and Dai Kidōchō turned and about face, and marched out of the room.

* * *

**_{Senziakyū}_**

Immediately after leaving Yamamoto's office, Naruto closed his eyes, and stretched out his mental senses, almost immediately locking on to the two faint reiatsu signatures near the Shrine of Penitence. With a soft _whooshing _sound, Naruto instantly executed a quick series shunpo, grateful that the sensation of extreme high speed movement no longer affected him in the slightest.  
Thirty seconds after leaving the Captain-Commander's office, he arrived on the wooden bridge that led to the entrance of the Shrine, just as three unfamiliar figures began to emerge from the tower.

For intimidation purposes, he released a wave of reiatsu at about 20% of his full power, focusing it on the three people ahead of him. The man in front wore a white hakama, with a green sleeveless cover, and black pants with white spirals on the thighs.  
Naruto also noticed the hilt of some type of blade sticking out from behind the stranger. Once again stretching out his mental senses, he measured the man's reiryoku level, discovering it to only be 6th seat in terms of strength.

Disappointed, Naruto spoke up, his attention fully directed to the man in front, "You are not the ryoka I am searching for."

The man visibly tensed, but Naruto's attention was now focused on the other two people. He looked at a raven haired girl who was panting heavily, garbed in the white outfit of the prisoner. "_This must be Kuchiki Rukia,"_ he thought to himself. "_I wonder why these ryoka are taking her." _Dismissing the questions as unimportant, he shifted his gaze to the last man in the trio.

When his eyes fell on the skinny, raven haired male, his gaze hardened, an officer of the Gotei 13 was aiding a prisoner in their escape.

If there was one thing Naruto hated, it was traitors, and unconsciously he began to a emit a stronger amount of crushing reiatsu, watching impassively as the trio began to shake in fear.

He began walking forward slowly, but then the man in front regained control over his faculties, moved to stop him from advancing.  
"Move aside ryoka," Naruto commanded, his fight was not with this man.

"Screw you," the man said arrogantly, a smile on his face, poorly hiding his fear. Naruto sighed, and pointed his right index finger at him._ "I warned him," _he thought to himself._  
_

"Hadō no ichi (1): Shō," Naruto intoned flatly, and loosed his reiryoku.. In satisfaction Naruto watched as the odd ryoka was blasted back nearly twenty feet, rolling head over heels, and was subsequently knocked unconscious.

"GANJU-SAN!!," screamed Kuchiki Rukia as the man went flying past her rapidly.  
Naruto idly took note of his "opponent's" name; but his the true focus of his attention attention was solely directed on the traitorous Shinigami ahead of him.

"You there, Shinigami," he barked. "What is your name, and divisional rank?"

"Ya-yamada Ha-hanatarō, se-seventh seat, of the fourth division," the terrified Shinigami replied, stuttering in fear.

Naruto placed his right hand on the hilt of his Zanpakutō, sheathed on the left side of his waist, while electricity began to crackle between his fingers in his left hand, which hung loosely at his side.

"Seventh seat Yamada Hanatarō, for your crime in attempting to free known criminal Kuchiki Rukia, I hereby sentence you to execution," intoned Naruto seriously, both his voice and his eyes as cold as ice.

Just as Naruto was about to unsheathe his blade, something stayed his hand.

* * *

Naruto froze as a hand landed on his shoulder, "Easy there Naruto-san," spoke the familiar voice of one Jūshirō Ukitake, Captain of the 13th Division from behind the blond.  
"No need to take this too far," the white haired Captain continued lightly. While the man's tone was soft, there was steel in his eyes, and Naruto knew it would be pointless to argue.

With a monumental amount of effort, Naruto reigned in his anger at the traitor, but it wasn't until the electricity crackling around his hand had faded away completely, that Ukitake removed his own.

Turning the face the white haired captain Naruto calmly asked, "Why are you here Ukitake-san?"

"I could ask you the same thing Naruto," replied Ukitake swiftly,"It's not often that the Kidōshū Sōshi is seen around here."

At the mention of Naruto's title, both Hanatarō, and Rukia paled considerably. "_Oh God, he could have annihilated us in an instant," _panicked Rukia, while Hanatarō looked about one step away from passing out. Neither had actually met the newest Kidōshū Sōshi, until then, it was well known that one did not become Commander of the Kidō Corps without having a considerable amount power.

"I was asked by Yamamoto-Sōtaichō to help with the ryoka invasion," answered Naruto coolly. "I came here because I sensed two foreign reiatsu signatures moving towards the Senziakyū."

"Has the ryoka invasion really gotten so bad, that the Kidōshū Sōshi needs to be brought in," mused Ukitake aloud, how had things come to this?

Before Naruto could reply, a massive, uncontrolled reiatsu appeared in the sky moving downward, closing in on the group on the bridge quickly.

Stepping back a couple feet, Naruto and the others watched as an orange-haired boy dropped out of the sky directly in front of Rukia, with what appeared to be a giant bone wing growing out of something clenched in his hand.

Instantly sensing the boy's depth of power, Naruto went on high alert, "_This is the one,"_ he thought to himself excitedly as he watched the boy move toward his friends.

The new ryoka moved past Rukia with out a word, and clapped Hanatarō on the shoulder.  
"You ok, Hanatarō?" he asked. "I wouldn't have sent you on ahead, if I had known it was gonna be so rough."

At Hanatarō's grateful smile, the ryoka turned back to Rukia. "Yo, Rukia, I've come to get you outta here," he said casually.

With tears in her eyes Rukia launched herself forward, and latched on to his waist, "Ichigo you idiot, I told you to stay away," she yelled. "Now look at you, all cut up, and there's more to come, Idiot."

"Geez, whats with you," demanded Ichigo brashly as he gently extricated himself from Rukia's arms. "I came here for you, God, you could at least try to act happy, now shut up so I can deal with them."

With that Ichigo promptly turned away from Rukia, and stepped forward.

"Which one of you knocked out Ganju?" he asked seriously.

Naruto stepped forward, "That would be me," he replied casually, not fazed by the youth's posturing in the slightest. "You are the one who beat Zaraki Kenpachi, yes?"

"Yeah that was me," answered Ichigo, "What of it?"

"Nothing," Naruto smirked, "This just means I don't have to hold back too much."

Naruto reached into the sleeves of his blue robe, and drew out four rectangular slips of paper, and threw them towards Ichigo. Curiously the sheets of paper did not flutter to the ground, as one would expect, but rather they glowed, and spread out in four directions. One flew behind Ichigo, one behind Naruto, one in the air above, and one floating above the chasm below below the bridge, and then a translucent yellow box of energy appeared cutting off Ichigo and Naruto from everyone else.

"Bakudō no nijyu shichi: Repo no Seki," intoned Naruto solemly, naming the binding spell he used.

"What did you just do?" demanded Ichigo warily as he eyed the four walls around he, and his opponent.

"I utilized a binding spell that uses those 4 pieces of paper as catalyst to create a barrier that is extremely difficult to break from the outside," answered Naruto. "After all, we can't have just anyone interfering now can we?" he asked with a slightly demented smile on his face.

Without warning Naruto released about 25% of his reiryoku control, and a green aura sprang into existence, making it appear he was standing in the midst of a burning green fire

Ichigo however wasn't fazed, he simply lared his own azure reiatsu, and reached for his Zanpakutō, and pointed the cleaver like blade forward in a direct challenge.

"I'm impressed that you remain completely unaffected by my reiatsu," Naruto complimented. "What is your name ryoka?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo," answered Ichigo. "And you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Kidōshū Sōshi of the Gotei 13" came the swift reply. "Now then, lets get started."

Before Ichigo could blink Naruto had two glowing red spheres of energy in the palm of his hands, which he then merged into one giant crimson ball; Ichigo even with his horrible reiryoku sensing abilities, knew that his opponent's opening attack was going be powerful.

Readying his blade, Zangetsu, Ichigo charged up his own special technique.

At the same time both combatants roared out the name of their attacks. "Getsuga Tenshō!" "Hadō no Hachijyu san: Chō Shakkahō!"

Naruto's crimson sphere of destruction rocketed forward at an incredible speed, and a blue crescent shaped blast of raw reiryoku blasted out from Ichigo's Zanpakutō.

The two reiryoku constructs collided violently, smashing into each other with terrifying power. For a few brief moments the the two energy attacks fought for dominance, until, finally, the Getsuga Tenshō finally cut through the Giant Shot of Red Fire, continuing on it's path towards Naruto, until it slammed into something else and fizzled away.

Ichigo smirked in victory, but his smile quickly turned to a frown, up ahead, there was no trace of Naruto anywhere.

Before he could blink, Ichigo's body froze when he heard somebody whisper in his ear, "Please, as if that attack could beat me!"

Caught completely flatfooted, the ryoka boy had no time to brace himself as Naruto brutally kicked him in the back, sending him rolling away. He hit the ground hard, gasping in pain as his wounded body protested the treatment.

Naruto, from where he stood, raised his right arm, and pointed the index finger at his opponent, "Good bye Kurosaki Ichigo," he said as green tinted electricity began to crackle around his hand.

At that instant something collided with Naruto's barrier from above, and with an explosion of reiryoku smashed right through it.

A slim figure dropped in front of Ichigo, one that Naruto recognized all to well.  
"You!" he screamed. "How dare you show your face around here." The focus of his ire, a dark skinned, purple haired female.

Shihōin Yoruichi, the self titled Goddess of Flash, did not bother to reply, but instead direct her attention to Ichigo.

"Yoruichi-sensei, you came here to rescue me didn't you," said Ichigo weakly. "I realize that, and appreciate it, but at the moment I need you to step aside, so I can beat this guy."

Yoruichi turned her head, "Beat him?" she asked incredulously as she jerked her thumb at Naruto. "You think you can beat this guy?"

Stunned by her answer, Ichigo was at a loss for a reply.

"Ichigo, you remember the cannonball that brought you here?" she asked suddenly. "The one that needed the four of you to power it?" At Ichigo's slow nod she continued, "The man in front of you could have powered it by himself, without an ounce of effort. "He is Uzumaki Naruto Commander of the Kidō Corps, a Kidō master, and a former friend."

Hearing the last part, Naruto's ire erupted. "Friends?" he bellowed as his reiatsu flared, "After what He did to Hiyori, you think of us as friends?"

Once again Yoruichi did bother to answer; however, she did swiftly turn on Ichigo, plunging her hand into a gash on his waist. Before Ichigo could demand an explanation for her actions, he slipped into unconsciousness. Before he hit the ground Yoruichi, grabbed him, and threw him over her shoulder.

"I can't explain now," she finally said to Naruto. "But when this is all over maybe I can." She turned to move away, but suddenly Naruto was in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going," demanded Naruto, as he began to draw out his Zanpakutō.

Yoruichi dissapeared from his view faster than he could even see, but he could sense where her reiryoku had moved. Looking up to the rooftop of the Shrine, his blue eyes bored into her golden ones.

"Three days, and I promise he will be a match for you," Yoruichi yelled down to him, indicating to Ichigo.  
"See ya." Then she dissappeared once more, flash-stepping away until he could no longer sense her, or Ichigo.

With a snarl of frustration Naruto sheathed his sword, and began walking away from the Shrine, ignoring the the other four people entirely.

"Uzumaki-san where are you going?" asked Ukitake as he fell into step with the blond.

"To wait for them," replied Naruto flatly, meaning Ichigo and Yoruichi.

"What about the prisoner, the ryoka, and the fourth division officer," inquired Ukitake.

"Do what you will with them, my orders only deal with that orange-haired ryoka boy," answered Naruto without a glance back.

Secretly, as he walked away from the Shrine of Penitence only one thing occupied Naruto's thoughts

"_Hiyori..."

* * *

_

_And Done Whooo, what did ya'll think? as always leave me some reviews okay? I like constructive critiscism, but no flames_

_and now an explanation on terms and ideas._

_1. sōtaichō: **title given to the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13**_

_2. Gotei 13: **The 13 Division Imperial Guards**_

3. _Kidōshū Sōshi: **Title held by the Commander of the **_**_Kidōshū_**

_4. Kidōshū: **the **_**_Kidō Corps_**

_5. __Dai Kidōchō: **Special title given to select shinigami meaning Grand Kidō Master**_

_6._ _Senziakyū: **the Shrine of Penitence: **_**the white tower where criminals facing execution are located in**

7._ Bakudō no nijyu shichi: **repo no seki : Bakudō 27: paper barrier**_

Reiryoku: spiritual energy, the power that shinigami use to perform Kidō, the various Hohō methods, and the power source behind all Zanpakutō special abilities.

Reiatsu: is the physical force/pressure that a person's reiryoku creates when released. Reiatsu can be focused, and manipulated

"


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey readers, Jaden here, sorry I haven't updated as fast as I wanted to, I've been super busy (whoo college)._

_Any who yadda yadda disclaimer crap _

_Now on with the story _

* * *

_Break_

(Three days later)

High atop the Sōkyoku Hill nine figures stood in silence. Eight of the people stood silently in a row, whilst the ninth figure that had her arms bound securely stood atop a stone platform. Towering above all of the shinigami was the massive halberd known as the Sōkyoku, a weapon in which was said to reside the power of a million Zanpakutō.

Of the eight people who stood in a line, four carried the rank of Captain, and the other 4 were identified as seasoned Lieutenants. A heavy aura enfolded the group; the air itself was thick with almost palpable tension.

With a quick glance at the sun, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto gleaned a rough estimate of the time. With a shake of his head he turned and faced the bound figure.

A few moments passed, then with a soft _whoosh_, the characteristic sound of shunpo, and Uzumaki Naruto current Kidōshū Sōshi appeared. Twelve figures stood behind him garbed in the traditional clothing of the Kidō Corps, a standard shihakushō, with a gray mask and tabard that extended all the way to their feet. With a quick nod to the other Captains, Naruto took his place beside Yamamoto-sōtaichō while his men arranged themselves in a circle around the massive halberd.

Seeing as all were present, Yamamoto spoke, "Kuchiki Rukia, do you have anything you would like to say?" he asked the prisoner

Rukia opened her eyes and replied, "Yes, I would ask for just one thing Yamamoto-sōtaichō, I beg of you to send the ryoka back to the Living World unharmed."

For a long moment Yamamoto remained silent, contemplating her request. Behind him the large halberd that was the sealed form of the Sōkyoku was suddenly outlined by a blue oddly soothing reiryoku, the Kidō Corps members had begun the weapon's unsealing.

"Very well, just as you asked I shall send the ryoka back unharmed the dawn after your execution." Yamamoto finally said after a few moments.

A small contented smile passed over Rukia's lips when she heard the Sōtaichō's agreement. "Thank you very much," she replied softly, almost serenely.

Kotetsu Isane Lieutenant of the 4th Division, after hearing the exchange whispered aloud, "How cruel, he isn't planning on sending them back alive."

"It isn't cruel, Isane," spoke somebody beside her softly, "It's mercy."

With a start Isane realized that her Captain was standing beside her, surprising because the elder female hadn't been there a few seconds ago.

"Unohana- taichō! When did you get here," Isane exclaimed in surprise.

Unohana pointedly ignored her Lieutenant's question and spoke again, "If one's death is unavoidable, then one should die without regrets, it's a mercy to let her die in peace."

"Release Sōkyoku!" commanded Yamamoto after a few seconds of silence, the reiryoku surrounding the blade intensified greatly, and one by one the ropes around the shaft snapped.

Naruto then stepped onto the platform, and stood in front of Rukia. "Sorry," he whispered to her. "But orders are orders." He quickly made a single hand seal, reminiscent of the ones from his shinobi days and stepped back.

The seal binding Rukia's hands behind her back disintegrated allowing her a brief moment of mobility; however, not even two seconds later Rukia again lost control of her muscles. She watched almost morbidly as her arms were raised and stretched outwards under someone else's power..

From the floor of the platform she stood upon, three identical stone cubes floated upwards, two of them positioning themselves in front of her hands, while the third hovered above her feet. After the stones had settled into place, Rukia also began to levitate, all the while held in place by Naruto's spell, until she was face to face with the blade of the Sōkyoku, suspended in the air like a living crucifix.

A moment it was if time itself had stopped, the the Sōkyoku underwent its true release.  
From the base of the halberd a torrent of flames erupted, spiraling around the shaft, and reaching high into the sky. The torrential flames began to move, molding and shaping themselves into a distinct shape. After what seemed like an eternity the fires settled a little and the members of the Gotei 13 beheld the massive phoenix made of flames that was the Sōkyoku's release.

"King Kikou!" thundered Yamamoto, his cloak flapping wildly from the raw reiatsu the blade released, "This is the true form of the Sōkyoku's halberd the final enforcer of executions." "Once he passes through a criminal the sentence will end."

High in the air Kuchiki Rukia closed her eyes, her thoughts solely devoted to the orange-haired human boy who had changed her life. A single tear slid down her face. "Sayonara," she whispered aloud forlornly. As if sensing her emotions the fiery Sōkyoku apparition drew back; then with a swift lunge slammed it's beak into a object did not budge an inch.

Down on the ground Naruto grinned wildly, "It's about time he got here, but I guess the hero IS always late," he thought to himself , while aloud he muttered to no-one , "Power of a million Zanpakutō my ass." He watched in anticipation as the King Kikou prepared to attack again, while Ichigo readied his over sized blade.

Moments before the two forces collided a massive weighted purple rope wound itself around the phoenix's neck, the weight at the end slammed into the ground right behind Naruto, coating him lightly in dust.

Whirling around he discovered Captain Kyōraku Shunsui with one hand on the iron weight, and Captain Ukitake Jūshirō holding a red shield with the other end of the rope tied to it. The front of the shield was emblazoned with the Shihōin family symbol, a symbol the made Naruto visibly tense.

Before anyone could move to stop them, Shunsui and Jūshirō drew their Zanpakutō, pouringtheir reiryoku through the rope. Within seconds the massive phoenix made of fire exploded spectacularly, globs of fire raining down gently.

When the last of the fire had faded away every one on the ground turned their eyes to the ryoka who stood in the air in front of Rukia. The two conversed briefly, though none on the ground could hear what they said, and then Ichigo turned away abruptly, jumping atop the execution stands. The orange-haired youth began rapidly twirling his Zanpakutō around by the cloth wrappings on its hilt, and everyone present could feel his reiatsu pressing on them, and impressive feat for one so young.

Then to the astonishment of everyone, Kurosaki Ichigo slammed his Zanpakutō point first into the execution stand, his reiatsu tripled became visible as a luminescent blue pillar of light. The entire executioners structure glowed with foreign reiryoku coursing though it, until……………

**BOOOM**

With a violent explosion of light and raw power the Sōkyoku execution stands were destroyed by one single human ryoka.

Ichigo stood triumphantly on the remains of the stands Zangetsu slung over his shoulder proudly, and Rukia securely held in his other arm.

While outwardly calm and collected on the inside Naruto anything but, he e watched silently as Ichigo and Rukia argued for a minute, until Ichigo cut her off mid-sentence and turned east.

Following Ichigo's gaze, Naruto saw one Abarai Renji, who was obviously quite injured, wave to Ichigo and Rukia.

"Oi RENJI," bellowed Ichigo, loudd enough for all to hear, as he hefted Rukia above his shoulder. "CATCH!"

Absurdly, Ichigo proceeded to throw Kuchiki Rukia ( who was screaming hysterically all the way) much like a football straight at the red-haired Lieutenant.

It was all poor Naruto could do not to burst out laughing at the, but after all he had a reputation to keep. Turning away from the trio he spoke quietly to his commander.

"Yamamoto- sōtaichō, do my orders regarding Kurosaki Ichigo still stand?" he asked quietly.

"They do," Yamamoto replied leaving no room for argument.

Naruto nodded, "Very well, and what of Ju-,"

"I will deal with them," replied Yamamoto darkly. Naruto involuntarily shivered, sure he knew he was strong, hell probably the second strongest in Soul Society currently, but Yamamoto was in a class of his own.

At that moment Renji scooped up Rukia and took off as fast as he could without using shunpo.

"All Lieutenants, after him," barked Soifon, the current leader of the punishment forces. The three Lieutenants in question looked to their Captains for confirmation, before they all took off after Renji."Captains Kuchiki, and Unohana return to your divisions," ordered Yamamoto harshly. "Captain Soifon you are to…" before he could finish his order, a black blur slammed into Soifon and carried her away.

Naruto, recognizing Yoruichi's reiryoku signature, was sorely tempted to follow, but he knew had orders to carry out. With a sigh, he took off to pursue the Lieutenants, and left Yamamoto alone with Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō.

* * *

Utilizing a quick shunpo Naruto arrived just in time to see Ichigo delivering the final knock out blow, to the last of the three Lieutenants who had pursued him, _barehanded._

"You've gotten stronger Ichigo," commented Naruto from behind him nonchalantly. "Thats good, and smiled fiercely.

"You," hollered Ichigo angrily a deep scowl on his face, "You're that guy from the bridge.

Naruto smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, I am so gonna enjoy kicking your and Byakuya-teme's asses," boasted Ichigo, with a new confidence.

Naruto grinned evilly, "Now lets not get ahead of ourselves, you have yet to even hit me."

"Oh really," said Ichigo blase, then disappeared.

But Naruto remained wholly unfazed. Whirling around faster than sight, he latched onto Ichigo's outstretched arm by the wrist. "Yes really," Naruto replied deadpan.

Ichigo blinked in disbelief, he had thought that Byakuya was fast, but Naruto' speed was up there with Yoruichi's. Before Ichigo had a chance to recover, Naruto drop kicked him in the chest sending him a fair distance away.

Fortunately (for Ichigo) he managed to recover quickly and came rushing straight at Naruto, Zangetsu poised for a devastating horizontal slice at the blond's midriff.

Acting quickly, Naruto formed an open circle with his hands in front of his chest, "**Bakudō no sanjyu ku: Enkosen." **he muttered; instantly a circular shield make or hardened condensed reiryoku materialized, stopping Zangetsu dead.

"Hey man, the heck is wrong with you?" bellowed Naruto suddenly,

"What are you…?" began Ichigo but Naruto cut him off

You just tried to cut me in half," the blond seethed.

Ichigo blinked, and looked down, Zangetsu was still being pressed unmoving against Naruto's shield.

"What the hell is wrong with YOU?" Ichigo demanded indignantly, "You're the one that started this fight."

"Yeah well I'm not trying to cut people in half with a sword now am I?" replied Naruto cheekily, his false anger dissipating in a flash

Ichigo twitched, but was at a complete loss for a decent reply. This unfortunately distracted him enough, that he didn't notice what Naruto had secretly been doing until it was too late.

With a smug grin Naruto loosed a second kidō at close range, **"Hadō no gojyu hachi: Tenran,"** he said calmly.

A second later Ichigo (screaming bloody murder) and a lot of dirt was blasted high in the sky by the tornado like kidō

_**Mean while inside Naruto's head: **_"Hmmn which spell to use now, no, no, YES!!."

Naruto smirked deviously kidō could be sooooo much fun.

Placing one hand in front of his torso, and placing the other's plam on his forearm he began gathering up a large amount of reiryoku, waiting for Ichigo to become visible again.

He was rewarded for his patience with the sight of one very ticked off human teen, standing nearly two hundred feet up in the air, with a deep scowl on his face. Said scowl quickly turned to a look of panic one Ichigo could clearly see the pose Naruto was in, and the seriously demented smile on the shinigami's lips.

**"Hadō no sanjyu roku: Denji Hakai" **roared Naruto triumphantly, from his palm a massive wave of lightning bolts erupted with an enormous, thundering roar.

"_You have got to be kidding me," _screamed Ichigo, "Fine you wanna play that game. " **Getsuga Tenshō!,"** he bellowed as he swung Zangetsu forward. From the tip of his cleaver-like over sized Zanpakutō an icy blue wave of reiryoku shot forward, easily cutting right through the mass of oncoming lightning bolts, heading straight for Naruto.

_"You know, it's times like this, that I wish I could still make clones of myself," _Naruto thought to himself idly as he watched the crescent shaped wave move closer.

Seconds before Ichigo's attack hit him a green bubble made of reiryoku shimmered into existence around Naruto

After his energy bubble faded away Naruto faced Ichigo, who was now standing on the ground, panting lightly

"So it seems you've gotten stronger Ichigo, I guess I can let you face MY shikai now," said Naruto softly.

"Bring it on, I can take anything you throw at me," replied Ichigo confidently.

"I hope so," smirked Naruto as he reached for the katana sheathed at his side.

__

Ichigo watched in anticipation as Naruto reached for his sword.

"_Finally,"_ the human thought excitedly .

"_Hey, it's time to fight," _Naruto mentally whispered to his Zanpakutō while his hand rested on the hilt, which was all black, and had a gold, rectangular tsuba the top. Swiftly he unsheathed the blade and held it out horizontally in front of himself.

_"_Sit between the Dark and the Light: Koukon Munsezansun," Naruto intoned flatly as he ran his left palm along the flat of the thin katana . For a second his sword was outlined with an almost blinding white light, which quickly faded to a deep black, then the blade shattered into hundreds of black and white particles, the black surrounding his right arm, the white surrounding his left. Two seconds later, the energy disappeared and Naruto revealed his shikai to his opponent.

Covering his arms were what appeared to be a pieces of medieval armor, surrounding his right arm was an ebony-metal triple layered pauldron. A re-rebracer,a couter, and a vambrace flowed from his shoulder to his forearm, while his hand was covered by a studded metal gauntlet with four small knuckle spikes. His left arm also had the same type of armor, but colored a pure white.

Naruto looked up to where Ichigo was standing and raised his right arm, palm out. "Ankoku," he murmured without preamble.

From the right gauntlet an enormous black orb, almost four feet in diameter, shot forward at an incredible speed covering the distance between the two fighters in a split second.

Reacting on pure instinct Ichigo shunpo'd to the side, the orb missing him by millimeters moving until it was out of sight.

Ichigo quickly re-focused his attention on Naruto, who for some odd reason, hadn't moved.

Then Naruto locked his eyes with Ichigo, smiled, and disappeared without a trace.

Ichigo, despite being unable to see where Naruto had gone, whirled around, anticipating a classic strike from behind; however, he was rewarded for his efforts with devastating punch to the back, sending him flying painfully into the dirt

"What were you looking at Ichigo?" taunted Naruto, a sadistic gleam in his eyes.

"Screw you," bellowed Ichigo as he hauled himself up. "I'm going to rescue Rukia, and I'll crush anyone who stands in my way.

Naruto sighed and shunpo'd forward, "Prove it," he commanded as a rod of white energy materialized in his left gauntlet . "Hikari no Yaiba," he said, naming his next attack.

Ichigo rushed forward, and swung Zangetsu diagonally with all his strength.

Steel met solidified energy, and with a piercing screech and Zangetsu was stopped dead. Unexpectedly, Naruto used his free arm and slashed Ichigo across his chest leaving five bloody gashes.

"**GRAAAH," **Ichigo screamed in pain, unconsciously moving Zangetsu out of the way, leaving an opening which Naruto happily exploited.

"Hado no sanjyu san: Sōkatsui," the Kido mastered murmured. From his right palm a wave of blue fire blazed into existence blasting a stunned and bleeding Ichigo, who had barely managed to get Zangetsu into a half-assed block, a dozen yards away.

When the dust kicked up by his kidō faded away Naruto was greeted by the sight of Ichigo down on one knee panting heavily.

"Man," gasped Ichigo, "I guess I shouldn't have tried to take on someone stronger than Zaraki with just my shikai."

Naruto perked his ears up at the teens remark. , "What did you say?" he demanded. _  
"She wouldn't have_," he thought.

Ichigo smiled, detecting the hint of anger in Naruto's voice. "I said I can't do this with just my Shikai, I guess that means I'll have to use Bankai."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, all traces of emotion vanishing, "Go ahead then Ichigo, show me what you've got," he ordered coldly.

Ichigo smiled briefly as he stood and held Zangetsu front himself parallel to the ground, while building up his reiryoku. Tattered bits of his false shinigami outfit were ripped away by his own reiatsu.

"Bankai," Ichigo intoned somberly, and his eyes glowed blue.

Naruto watched intently as Zangetsu was briefly outlined in a bluish white, almost electric in nature, reiryoku, before the energy surrounding Zangetsu blasted forward in a condensed beam that stretched across the entireSōkyoku Hill. An enormous amount of dust was kicked up by the release of the raw energy, blocking Ichigo from Naruto's view.

"_Impressive," _Naruto thought to himself. _"He has a lot of potential."_

With a pulse of his own reiatsu Naruto cleared the air and took in the sight of his opponents Bankai.

Ichigo stood in a crater created by his own power, his shinigami outfit replaced by a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat with red lining on the inside, and ragged ends. His oversized Zanpakutō replaced by an ebony daito.

"Tensa Zangetsu," Ichigo said quietly, but proudly.

Naruto blinked, "Your Bankai is different from any other I've seen," he said. "Why is it so small?"

"Che," Ichigo said nonchalantly. "Who cares?" then he instantly disappeared from Naruto's sight. Appearing directly in front of Naruto less than a second later, the slim daito poised to take off his head.

This time it was Naruto who had to react instinctively, shielding himself with his left arm.

"_He's gotten faster," _he noted, with a grunt of effort he threw Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu off his arm.

Small beams of black and white light extended from the finger tips of both gauntlets, and Naruto began his counter attack.

Moving with an almost animalistic fury Naruto attacked Ichigo relentlessly, clawing, slashing, and punching, fighting instinctually.

Ichigo in turn blocked each strike his arm and blade moving at an impossible speed, but to his disparity his own attacks were always blocked as well.

After nearly five minutes melee combat Naruto finally managed to catch Ichigo's blade, and quickly used the opening to move away.

"What's the matter," taunted Ichigo much like Naruto had earlier. "Finally realized I'm gonna beat you?"

"Hardly," muttered Naruto as he laced his hands together.

When he pulled apart his hands, a s emi-transparent white orb, with a small black orb in the center, materialized in front of his torso.

"Eat this, **KOUKON BARRAGE**," Naruto bellowed hurling the orb high into the sky. The ball exploded violently, and dozens of black and white energy beams rained death down from the sky

Naruto watched impassively, as Ichigo kicked his speed up a notch, shunpoing between the beams, leaving over a dozen after images of himself behind until at last the orb faded away. He refused to let his annoyance show.

"Too slow," said Ichigo when the attack ended as his after images also faded away. They're wasn't a scratch on them.

"Don't get too cocky," said Naruto quietly. Two more energy orbs appeared, one in each of his palms, **"Koukon Toge!."**

Twin jagged black and white rays erupted from his hands swirling around each other, truth be told it was rather beautiful.

Ichigo quickly blocked the drill-like attack with the flat of his sword, but was surprised by the amount of power behind it, even though he held Zangetsu firmly he was slowly being pushed backwards by the attack.

"Getsuga Tenshō," Ichigo grunted, in an attempt the stave off injury buy Naruto's attack. From the tip of Zangetsu a black wave of energy blasted forward cutting right through Naruto's attack.

Twisting to the side Naruto evaded Ichigo's counter attack, surprise etched on his face.

"_That technique is a hell of a lot stronger; I guess his Bankai doesn't only increase his speed." _

Naruto shunpo'd forward once more, and his left arm crashed into Zangetsu, with a terrible _screeching_ sound. Once more the two fighters clashed, each of their respective attacks expertly blocked or dodged. However Naruto noticed that Ichigo was slowing down as time went by.

Nearly five minutes after he had begun the melee assault, Ichigo had finally slowed down enough for Naruto to block easily.

Quickly knocking his opponent's blade aside, Naruto latched one hand around Ichigo's throat. "Idiot," he said flatly,as he began squeezing

Ichigo tried to raise Zangetsu but Naruto brutally ripped Zangetsu out of his hand, and threw it to the side.

"You're not ready to use bankai real combat," Naruto coldly as a black orb materialized in his right palm

As the world faded to darkness around his eyes Ichigo kept frantically ordering his body to move. "_No, it can't end like this, I have to win, I have to WIN." _Just before the darkness overtook him, Ichigo heard a voice in his head mutter, "_**Pathetic."**_

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he sensed Ichigo's reiryoku become darker, and heavier. "_What the.."_

"Idiot, I told you I'd be in trouble if you died," Ichigo said strangely, his voice sounded off. White reiryoku began to collect and solidify around his face.

Ichigo began laughing maniacally his voice distorted further and further and his sclera bleed to a deep black and pupil's burnrf a bright gold. A few seconds later and the foreign reiryoku had formed a partial mask with red stripes over the orange-haired boy's face.

_**NO!**" _screamed Naruto ferally, **"_Him too_**?" Enraged Naruto let go of the active restraints on his powers. An ungodly torrent of green reiryoku exploded outward from his entire body, completely eclipsing Ichigo's own impressive reiryoku level.

Black reiryoku flared around his left arm, and then he punched Ichigo directly in the mask, pulverizing it to dust.

He watched in satisfaction as Ichigo's eyes changed back to their proper colors, promptly rolling up inside his head. His bankai glowed white before transforming back into the large cleaver, and his robe changed back to the standard shinigami garb.

After gently setting the orange haired teen down, Naruto dispelled his shikai, and sheathed his katana. "_Thanks for the help __Koukon Munsezansun-san__." He said mentally._

_"**It was no trouble," **__replied his Zanpakut_ō, then went silent.

"I guess I should heal him," commented Naruto idly as he looked over Ichigo, noting especially the five gashes on his chest.

A green aura surrounded his right hand as he activated one of the healing type kidō. Placing it over the gashes one by one, Naruto healed Ichigo of his wounds until all that remained were five thin pale scars covering his chest.

"Brat better be grateful," he muttered to himself as he sat down next to him. "When this is over, I have an old friend to talk to."

For nearly a half hour Ichigo remained unconscious, until at last his eyes slowly opened. "I'm alive?" he questioned blearily.

"Ha," laughed an annoyingly familiar voice, "Course you're alive, my orders were always to subdue you, not kill you."

Sitting up quickly Ichigo saw Naruto sitting next to him, gazing up into the sky without a care in the world. "You know Ichigo you kinda remind me of myself," commented Naruto suddenly.

"What do you mean?" scowled Ichigo.

"A great man I knew once told me those who abandon the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are less than trash," Naruto replied. "I can respect you, because you would come all this way to rescue a friend."

"She's not just a friend said Ichigo quietly, "She changed my life, saving her is the least I could do."

Naruto just smiled, "You're all right kid." He looked off to the east, and tiled his head to the side. "Now then, it seems some friends of yours are about to arrive."

Ichigo looked to where Naruto's gaze was directed and sure enough saw a group of people moving closer in the distance.

"Kuuuuroooosaaaaakiiii kuuuuuuun," floated a girl's voice. "Where are youuuuuuuuuuuu?"

"Lets go greet them, shall we," said Naruto cheerfully.

"What do you......," began Ichigo before Naruto hauled him over his shoulder.

"Hold on tight," he commanded Naruto before shunpoing towards the other ryoka.

"Someone's coming," said Uryuu Ishida quietly as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

The others nodded and prepared themselves for a possible enemy. Seconds later a man with blond hair materialized directly in front of Inoue, with someone draped over his shoulders.

"Yo," greeted the man casually.

"Oi, teme put me down," bellowed the figure he was carrying with a familiar voice. Ichigo pounded his fist against Naruto's back fruitlessly.

"Kurosaki-kun is that you?" asked Inoue joyfully as the blond man set Ichigo down.

"Inoue, Ishida, Chad, you guys are all right," said Ichigo happily.

"For the most part," replied Ishida, his eyes still trained on the blond man, " And who might you be?" the raven-haired Quincy asked warily.

"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service," said the blond man with a bow and flourish.

"Now then I believe you ryoka have a few more friends to meet up with, shall find Abarai-san and Kuchiki-san?"

"Ano, won't the other shinigami stop you from coming with us?" asked Inoue timidly.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and faced the buxom girl, then smiled serenely "Inoue-chan I am the Kidōshū Sōshi, the only shinigami who can question my authority is the Sōtaichō himself." Naruto then promptly turned away and began walking down the stone stairway leading back down to the city.

With a shrug Ichigo followed the enigmatic man motioning for his friends to come along.

While the group walked along they chatted about opponents they had faced in their quest to save Rukia, and how they had managed to find each other.

They were about halfway down when a woman's voice sounded in their ears as if she was right next to them.

"**To the Goteijūsantai, all Taichō, fukutaichō, acting fukutaichō, and the human ryoka, this is Yontai fukutaichō Kotetsu Isane. This is an urgent emergency report, from Unohana-taichō, and me, regarding three traitors of Soul Society, Sōsuke Aizen, Ichimaru Gin, and Tōsen Kaname. The Aizen that was found dead was a fake, and was part of a plot perpetrated by the real Aizen to conceal the fact that he and his accomplices murdered the Central Forty Six. Aizen has also attacked and mortally injured both Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Tōshirō." The three traitors are currently located at Sokyoku Hill."**

"_So the real enemy finally reveals himself_," Naruto thought. Focusing his attention back to the top of the hill he detected five new reiryoku signatures, one of which belonged to Kuchiki Rukia.

"Ichigo, Rukia and Renji are back at the top of the hill, we need to get back up there NOW." Naruto barked.

Ichigo nodded and held up Zangetsu, "Bankai," he intoned, this time his sword transformed without a wild explosion of reiryoku.

The two shinigami looked at each other and then disappeared from their companion's sight.

When the two appeared back at the top of the hill they discovered a bloodied Renji, his shikai in pieces, clutching Rukia to his chest, down on one knee. Captain Aizen stood above him, sword raised high, ready to decapitate the tattooed warrior.

"Bakudo no Nijyu Roku: Tetsu no Kusari," yelled Naruto as he thrust his right hand forward.

A thick iron chain materialized and wrapped around the surprised Aizen's sword.

Ichigo decided to take this opportunity and rushed forward to attack, not hearing Naruto's warning yells to fall back.

Aizen easily shattered the iron chain surround his blade with a single swing, turned to face Naruto, and with a smile murmured something softly.

Naruto bit back a curse as a massive blue rectangular barrier appeared around him, followed by a yellow dome, and then a purple pyramid.

Ichigo meanwhile had closed the distance between himself, and Aizen, and swung Zangetsu with all his might.

Time seemed to freeze as Aizen blocked Ichigo's attack with a single finger; incredibly said finger was not even the least bit harmed.

Ichigo watched, stunned, and terrified as as Aizen slowly, inexorably curled his finger, then tapped the flat side of Tensa Zangetsu once.

Blood erupted from a raw fresh wound at Ichigo's waist, delivered by a cut executed too fast to even see.

"Hmn," commented Aizen lightly. "I meant to sever you from the waist down," He released his grip on Ichigo's sword, "too shallow I guess."

Ichigo collapsed with a grunt of pain, unable to hold himself up.

Meanwhile Naruto had managed to break through the first of the barriers that Aizen had placed around him. "_How can these barriers be so strong?"_ he thought to himself.

He began working more furiously after watching Ichigo get cut down.

Moments before he finished unraveling the yellow dome, the anthropomorphic fox Taicho of the 7th division dropped out of the sky. He watched helplessly as Komamura was dropped by Aizen's powerful Kurohitsugi spell.

The third barrier was halfway down when he saw Aizen seize Rukia by the throat, and wooden pillars burst out of the ground. He watched as Aizen's hand was turned to wood, and plunged into Rukia's abdomen.

With a roar of rage, he loosed a pulse of green reiatsu completely shattering the final obstruction, just in time to see Aizen remove a glowing orb from inside Rukia, and toss her aside unceremoniously,

"HADŌ NO YONJYU SHI: DAI BYAKURAI," roared Naruto furiously.

From both his hands, a massive stream of condensed electricity that broke sound barrier, erupted heading straight towards the traitorous trio.

Aizen, Tōsen, and Gin each utilized a quick shunpo to move away from the incredibly destructive kidō.

From out of the blue Kuukaku Shiba, standing on Gate Keeper Jidanbou's shoulders appeared high in the sky, angling straight down towards Aizen.

"_**Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle," **_

Kuukaku recited as they fell through the air. When they were in position she finished the spell. "HADŌ NO ROKUJYU SAN: RAIKŌHŌ!!!"

From her hands an even bigger beam of yellow colored electricity, erupted which creating a large crater in the ground.

Aizen, who had managed to get away just in time placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, but froze, when someone's hand landed on the pommel, and a blade pressed against his neck.

"Well aren't you quite a nostalgic face," Aizen said to Yoruichi, who had her right hand on his Kyoka Suigetsu

"Don't move," she ordered. "Move even one muscle."

"..And I'll lop of your head," finished Soifon who had also soundlessly appeared, her blade pressed to his stomach.

Ichimaru Gin was caught by Matsumoto Rangiku, while Tōsen was apprehended by Hisagi Shūhei.

"This is it for you Aizen," said Yoruichi.

"What was that?" asked Aizen lightly, completely unruffled by the situation he found himself in.

"Don't you understand that you three have nowhere to run," she replied. As she spoke more than a dozen figures materialized onto the hill surrounding the traitors.

Aizen looked at the assembled Taichōs and fukutaichōs, and smirked.

"What's so funny?" demanded Soifon harshly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that it's time," replied Aizen cryptically.

Yoruichi sensed a malevolent reiryoku appear in the air above them. "Soifon get back," she ordered, as she back flipped away, just in time too.

A translucent, yellow, rectangular pillar of light crashed into the ground completely enveloping Aizen.

High in the sky black jagged line appeared. Gigantic ivory colored hands thrust through the line and tore open a hole in the sky. At first all the shinigami could see was an enormous white masked face, but the rip expanded until thirteen huge Hollow could be seen.

"Gillian menos? Here? Impossible," said Ukitake genuinely afraid of this new development.

Before anybody could react to the new threat, two more pillars of light crashed into the ground sealing off both Gin and Tōsen.

A few moments later the traitors began being levitated upwards towards the menos hollow

Tetsuzaemon Iba attempted to move forward but was commanded to stop by Yamamoto.

"That light is called Negacion, a technique used by menos to help their own kind, it creates an untouchable zone, this battle was over the second they where enveloped in that light," explained Yamamoto tightly.

A bloodied Komamura managed to stand up at that moment, he looked directly at Tōsen. "TŌSEN!" he roared. "Get down here, Tōsen, where is your Justice now?"

"I told you that my eyes can only see the path of the least bloodshed, my path IS…..Justice," replied Tōsen his voice mysteriously projected.

Ukitake stepped forward and addressed Aizen, "So you would even join with the Hollow?" For what reason?"

"To seek new heights," replied Aizen tonelessly.

"How low have fallen?" asked Ukitake.

"Your arrogance is excessive, Ukitake," remarked Aizen coldly.

"No one was in Heaven to begin with. Not you. Not me. Not even God." Aizen removed his glasses and swept back his hair. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on... I will be sitting on it." He finished as his glasses disintegrated.

Aizen, Gin and Tōsen stepped onto the palm of one Gillan, and Aizen looked down, "Farewell Shinigami, and farewell Ryoka boy, for a human you were pretty interesting."

The Gillian holding them drew back its hand, while others quickly closed the rip in the sky.

_And DONE with chapter 4 Whoooooo_

_Ya'll know the drill thanks for reading, now leave some review, constructive critisicm appreciated, but no flames_

_And now a translation of sorts_

_Koukon Munsezansun: Twilight Heart _

_Ankoku: Darkness_

_Hikari no Yaiba: Blades of Light._

_Koukon Barrage: Twilight Barrage'_

_Koukon Toge: Twilight Thorn  
_

_Bakudo no Nijyu Roku: Tetsu no Kusari: Binding Spell 26 Chains of Iron_.

**_Kurohitsugi: Black Coffin_**

**_HADŌ NO YONJYU SHI: DAI BYAKURA: Hadō 44 grand pale lightning._**

_HADŌ NO ROKUJYU SAN: RAIKŌHŌ: Hadō 63: Thunder Roar Cannon_

_Negacion: Negation._

_Kidōshū: Kidō Corps_

_Kidōshū Sōshi: Kidō Corps Commander_

_Sōtaichō: Captain-Commander _

_Taichō: Captain_

_Reiryoku: Spiritual Energy_

_Hadō no gojyu hachi: Tenran: Hadō 58: Orchid Sky _

_Bakudō no sanjyu ku: Enkosen: Bakudō 39: Arc Shield_

_Hadō no sanjyu roku: Denji Hakai: Hadō 36:Electromagnetic Destructionunder_


	5. Chapter 5

_Greeting loyal fans Jaden here with TADAAA another update… whooooo rejoice. To all the people who left me nice reviews Kudos to y'all. To the ones who gave me constructive criticism thanks for real. I know my writing style isn't very professional, but I am honestly trying to improve it.  
_

_As a disclaimer… I do not own Bleach, Naruto, or other affiliated animes… I just wish I did_

_Now ON WITH THE STORY  


* * *

_

Naruto walked across the Sōkyoku Hill silently, his visage schooled into a mask of emotional non-existence. Pointedly ignoring the frantic cries of the members of the Fourth division as they attended to Renji, and Komamura Sajin, his attention was fully focused on one Kurosaki Ichigo, who currently being healed by his friend Orihime. The boy, Ichigo, was lying on his back inside a bright orange oval of light, a sign that meant that Orihime Inoue, was using her odd spiritual powers.

Naruto watched intently as the young human girl seemingly defied the laws of the universe as she healed her friend inside an orange oval. _"I'll have to ask her how she does that,"_ he thought to himself idly, as he waited patiently behind Orihime, quietly observing as Ichigo's nearly severed torso seemed to stitch itself back together, while his bruises and scrapes vanished into nothingness. Only when the oval had vanished, and Orihime had stepped back, did Naruto speak.

"Ichigo," he said seriously, his own icy blue eyes boring into the other male's brown ones. "I need you to tell me exactly what Aizen told you when I was trapped inside his barriers ." "I need to know it has something to do with that mask that came on during our fight."

Ichigo visibly flinched before speaking, "Couldn't we talk about this somewhere more private?" he asked quietly as he gestured to the dozens of Shinigami milling around the top of the Hill.

Naruto shook his head, "I can't let you leave the Hill, but I can make sure we have some privacy," he answered. He looked around to see if anyone was observing them, and once he was sure they weren't, whispered, **_"Bakudō no jyu shi: Seishuku Heya_**." _(Binding Spell 14: Silent Room)_

"There," Naruto said cheerfully. "The space around us now will completely block all noise, nobody can hear us."

Ichigo nodded gratefully and sat up, "Aizen knew that we," here Ichigo gestured to his friends, "Were going to arrive in Soul Society from the West Rukongai, he knew it wold be West Rukon, because West Rukongai was Urahara's original base of power."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "Did you say Urahara?,"he demanded sharply, "As in Urahara Kisuke?"

"Uh, yeah," Ichigo replied warily, sensing that Naruto was upset about something. "Old Sandal-Hat was the one who got us here in the first place, and he's also why Aizen attacked Rukia."

Naruto scowled as this bit of news, "Explain," he ordered his voice, and expression growing tight with displeasure.

"Aizen was going on about how Shinigami and Hollow have natural limits they can't break though on their own, so he told me that in order to break through those limits a Shinigami has to become Hollowfied or a Hollow has to become Shinigamified," explained Ichigo quickly.  
"He told me that even though he had done his own experiments on making Hollow more similar to Shinigami, but could never get it perfect, but he said that Urahara had created, called the something that could," he continued, "He said Urahara had created something that could completely erase the line between Shinigami and Hollow, but hid it in what he thought was the perfect place."

"What do you mean," asked Naruto, genuinely confused where could one hide an abomination like that?

"Urahara created a fake body what you guys call a gigai, that when worn long enough would turn a Shinigami back into a normal, powerless human soul, and he hid the thing… Aizen called it The Hōgyoku inside Rukia's soul, and gave her the special fake body, hoping that nobody would ever find it," Ichigo finished.

"And how exactly do you fit in to this Ichigo?" asked Naruto calmly. "Did Urahara use the Hōgyoku on you before he hid it in Rukia?"

"No!" yelped Ichigo. "I just now found out about that thing, no my transformation was my own fault, and now I've got a monster inside of me," he finished bitterly.

Naruto barked a short, hard laugh, "Trust me kid, I know just how you feel."

Although curious as to what his companion meant, Ichigo didn't bother ask; something in the blond's demeanor showed that he would give him no answers.

Naruto stood up, and with a snap of his fingers he dispelled the privacy spell, "Well this was fun, Ichi-san, but I've got places to go, things to do, people to see," he said with a small smile. "Later," he said, then vanished into thin air.

* * *

_**One week later: Inside Yamamoto's Office**_

"This is highly irregular," rumbled the old main to the rooms only other occupant.

"I know sir, but I truly believe Karakura Town needs to be both inspected, and protected."

Yamamoto sighed, he had learned to trust the other man's intuition, "Very well, Uzumaki-san, permission to be temporarily stationed in Karakura Town is granted."

Naruto smiled and bowed respectfully, "I shall go prepare, I believe that Kurosaki-san and the others will be leaving soon, I shall go accommodate them."

Yamamoto nodded and tapped his cane on the ground, "Dismissed." When the other man had left, he let his gaze drift towards the window, "Changes are coming," the ancient Shinigami mused aloud.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he left Old man Yama's office, "_Man, I haven't been to the real world in so long_," he thought to himself idly as he walked back to his own office.

_One hour later_

Ishida and Chad stood next to the Seireitei's main Senkaimon waiting for Ichigo and Orihime to arrive, thankfully they didn't have long to wait, as about three minuets later their other two companions arrived together.

"Sorry we're late, we were saying goodbye to some friends," explained Ichigo. Ishida rolled his eyes and shook his head, secretly concealing a smile, and Chad just stood there silently.

"Ano, how exactly are we supposed to use this to get home?" asked Orihime, as she examined the empty door frame.

"With my help of course," whispered a voice softly in her ear. With a small shriek of surprise Orihime whirled around, only to see a bemused Naruto standing there with a smile on his face.

"Sorry, Orihime-chan didn't mean to scare you like that," he said as he reached down and picked up a box covered in black cloth.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Ichigo a bit roughly, his pride still sore from the beating it had taken at the blond's hands.

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "Well, you see, one of the Kidō Corps duties is to operate each of the non-Noble Senkaimon, and I felt like seeing you guys off."

"So what's inside the box?" asked Ishida calmly, and a lot less rudely than Ichigo.

"Specially breed Hell Butterflies, they'll let you move though the gateway freely," explained Naruto. "Now then, ready to be off?"

As he moved to activate the gateway, he heard a voice call out, "Wait."

Turning around he was greeted by the sight of one Ukitake Jūshirō, a bit of a ways off approaching, waving at them to get their attention. A few moments later the white-haired Captain had caught up with them, a large smile on his face. "Ichigo-san," he said, as he reached into his pocket, "This is for you."

Ukitake withdrew a large wooden badge, with an odd semi-hexagonal skull imprinted on it. "It's a substitute Shinigami Seal of Approval," Ukitake explained. "It does a lot of things, one of them being letting you leave your body without the need for soul candy."

At the sight of the badge, Naruto's eyebrows shot up, _"Wow, I've never seen a real Seal of Approval before, only in textbooks, I wonder where Ukitake-san got one?"_ He shook his head, that was a question for another time, and cleared his throat, "Now......are we ready?"

After seeing the four humans nod their heads in confirmation, he removed the black cloth from the top of the cage, inside four pure black butterflies fluttered about.

"Orihime place you hand right outside the cages door," he said firmly. Orihime, though hesitant, complied.  
Naruto opened the cages door, and waited until a single Hell Butterfly flew out and landed on the back of Orihime's hand, the process was repeated for each of the boys, until all of them had a black butterfly resting on the back of their hand.

After setting the cage down, Naruto carefully drew his sword and stuck it in the empty gateway, then turned it so the blade faced to the right. The teens watched fascinated as his sword began to glow brighter and brighter, until the light it emitted filled the entire gateway. After he had removed his sword, he motioned for the others to walk into the light.

"Keep the hand with your moth in front of you," he said. "That way you'll be able to walk through the Dangai Precipice, and exit freely, and not end up a hundred feet in the air." He chuckled lightly as the group winced, clearly remembering their disastrous entry."

When the last of the ryoka had left, Naruto closed the gateway on his end, and smiled to himself.

"They're gonna be so surprised to see me later," he mumbled as he walked back to his quarters.

* * *

Urahara Kisuke sat on the rooftop of one of the many buildings in Karakura Town, positioned a few buildings away were Tsumugiya Ururu with her Senren Bakusatsu Taiho, Hanakari Jinta with his bat, and Tsukabishi Tessai. All four of them were patiently waiting for the Senkaimon doorway to materialize where it always did for Karakura Town. So focused were they, that they completely missed the human's arrival a hundred or so feet below, on solid ground.

Despite not actually currently being inside a body, Ichigo smiled as he felt the warm sunlight on his skin, "It's good to be home," he said, stretching out his arms while being careful not to harm his butterfly. As he did so, he happened to glance upwards, and caught sight of a green kimono beneath a grayish-green haori. He cupped is hands over his mouth and yelled, "OI, Geta-bōshi down here."

Startled Kisuke looked down, surprise etched on his face, "Kurosaki-kun, how did you get down there," he called.

"Walked through the Senkaimon duh," replied Ichigo sarcastically. He let out a yelp of surprise, when Kisuke dropped down right next to him, with a soft _whoosh_.

"Really?" question Kisuke, "I'm certain that without a hell butterfly, the Senkaimon always opens up right there." He pointed to an empty spot in the sky.

"Yeah, well we've got our own butterflies," muttered Ichigo petulantly, as he held up his left hand, the black butterfly calmly resting on it. Urahara raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"Oh and where did you get one of those," he queried casually. Orihime spoke up this time, "Uzumaki-san gave us each one, said they were specially modified for us," she said happily.

Kisuke tensed at the name, but thankfully none of the teens had noticed, quickly regaining his composure he turned back to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-san, I'm sure you've heard a lot of new things about me," he said seriously.

Ichigo turned his face away, "Yeah," he replied softly. "I did."

Kisuke swept off his hat, and bowed deeply, "I'm truly very sorry," he said somberly

"Stop that," said Ichigo. "It's not a big deal, It's not like I'm mad at you or anything." "Although your motives were questionable, you were only trying to fix your mistake, and keep it from being abused," he continued. "So let's just forget it."

Kisuke smiled gently, truly touched by the orange haired human's words, "All right,"

"Just promise me, one day, you'll apologize to Rukia too, now let's go home," finished Ichigo.

* * *

_The next day_:

Moments after Ichigo had left home to go to school, an old Japanese style doorway materialized out of thin air, right in front of the Kurosaki Clinic. A boy of about, looking to be about 16 stepped out of the portal a small black butterfly on one hand' He was about 5'10", wore a pain black t-shirt with dark jeans, a pair of black shades rested atop a mass of spiky blond almost yellow hair.

The boy walked around the front of the clinic for a bit, his movements sometimes a bit off, almost like he was used to longer appendages. After a few minutes the boy's motions became normal, and he began walking directly towards Karakura High School.

* * *

Ichigo nonchalantly greeted his friend eccentric friend Keigo , ho had rushed forward to hug him, with a nice clothes line to the face, then mumbled a cursor "Morning," to his other friend Mizuiro, and waved to Ishida, Orihime, and Chad. He dropped into his chair, promptly tuning out the antics of some of the weirder kids in his class, like Chizuru.

"Hey Ichigo, long time no see," said a familiar voice, snapping him back to reality. Looking up he saw the face of his long time friend Arisawa Tatsuki. "I didn't see you at all this summer," she said. "I heard you got back from your vacation early, but you were always gone when I stopped by your house, where did you go?" She was about to continue when she noticed something hanging from Ichigo's belt loop.

"Hey, what's with that skull badge," she asked bluntly.

"Huh, oh this?" Ichigo said as he lifted the Seal, "I got this the other…." He froze when he realized what Tatsuki has asked about. "Tatsuki, you can see this?"

"What do you mean?" she demanded "Of course, I ca….."

"GOOD MORNING CLASS," interrupted a loud voice from the doorway. Ichigo turned as say his teacher Ochi-sensei walk in. "Sit down you punks!" she yelled when she got to her desk. Terrified the students quickly quieted seated themselves.

"Now then, today we have a new student joining our class," Ochi-sensei declared.

As if on cue the door banged open once more, and a blond male in a black t-shirt strolled in to the font of the class.

His sky blue eyes scanned the class for a second before locking onto Ichigo's, "Uzumaki Naruto at your service, pleased to meet cha," declared the youth with a wide smile

* * *

_Meanwhile:_

Outside of the school, barely twenty yards away from Kurosaki Ichigo's classroom another blond haired man, this one appearing to be about 19 or so, years old, observed the entry of the new student, with a frown. What was even more peculiar about this man was the fact that he was standing upside down, in mid-air.

The man focused a bit of reiatsu to his ears in order to hear what the new student was saying. "When the youth declared his name, the man's eyes widened with shock, and a grimace flashed across his face.

"Damn it," the man whispered. "Not now." With a soft _whooshing _sound, the strange man disappeared, leaving no trace that he had ever existed.

* * *

After Naruto's introduction, the teacher, placed him in Rukia's old seat, not that anybody except for Ichigo and his nakama remembered Rukia. Although startled that Naruto had come to school, Ichigo wasn't too surprised by his presence, he knew Soul Society would eventually send someone to keep an eye on him.

While Ochi-sensei began the lecture, Ichigo's mind was on more important matters. Remembering that Ukitake-taicho had told him that normal humans would be unable to see his substitute-Shinigami badge, he wondered why Tatsuki was able to see it at all.

"Is it broken?" he murmured to himself absently, as he turned the badge over in his hands, suddenly the badge began flashing, and emitting a piercing shrieking sound, heard only by 5 people in the room. Surprised, Ichigo jumped in his seat, and nearly dropped his badge.

Naruto, who was seated right next to Ichigo, tensed as soon as the badge went off. "_Hollow,"_ he thought to himself. Acting quickly, he raised his hand. "Pardon me Ochi-sensei, but suddenly I'm not feeling very well, may I go to the nurses office?"

With a suspicious glance at him, Ochi reluctantly agreed, "Ichigo," she barked, "Escort Uzumaki-kun, to the nurse's office."

With an understanding look, Ichigo nodded, and the two exited the classroom, quickly. Once in the hall way, Naruto reached into his pocket, and removed two soul-candy pills, wordlessly they downed the pills, and were summarily ejected from their bodies. Ichigo again noticed that Naruto's spirit body appeared older than his gigai, and filed that information away for future questioning.

"Okay, you two, bring our bodies to the school infirmary, and wait for our return," ordered Naruto the artificial calmly. With a quick salute the temporary souls departed, leaving the two shinigami alone.

Closing his eyes, Naruto let his reiatsu flare out in a wide pulse, searching for the hollow with practiced ease. Ten seconds later he opened his eyes, "It's about a mile east of here," he informed Ichigo.

"Right," replied the orange haired teen, "Let's go." The two shinigami flashed away with an instantaneous series of shunpo, arriving on the scene of the hollow attack.

The hollow they came upon was extremely tall, almost twelve feet in height, with a bright red body, and a bone white mask, similar in appearance to a boar. The hollow upon detecting the shinigami roared loudly, before taking a running jump high into the air. Opening its mouth the monster began firing dozens of miniature reiryoku beams.

As Ichigo used the flat of Zangetsu as a makeshift shield, while Naruto watched ready to step in at a moments notice, "Interesting ability," he noted almost absently.

Once gravity finally claimed the beast, Ichigo leapt high into the air and twisted around so he was facing the ground, then shunted his reiryoku out of the soles of his feet, bringing Zangetsu straight through the confused hollow, which then disintegrated into hundreds of spirit particles.

"You know, I could have taken care of this hollow by myself ," said Ichigo, as he hefted Zangetsu across his shoulders. "There was no reason for you to leave school as well."

Naruto shrugged, "It's my job to look after you, and Karakura Town," he said calmly. "Besides, I was ditching classes before you were even born," he finished with a wicked smile.

The two shinigami shunpo'd back to school just before the second class started, and for the rest of the day, thankfully there were no more interruptions from random Hollow attacks.

* * *

After saying his goodbyes to Ichigo and his friends, Naruto left to find a decent motel to stay in for an extended period of time. After a few hours of searching, he finally found a decent place with a large amount of space, and set up the relay station between himself and Yamamoto. Looking at the techno-organic screen, he shuddered slightly, the thing was creepy.

Once the screen was up and running Yamamoto took charge, "Uzumaki Naruto, what is the report for today."

"Nothing too interesting Yamamoto-Sōtaichō, I managed to easily join in on Ichigo's classes, and today there's only been one hollow attack," reported Naruto.

"Very well, you are dismissed," replied Yamamoto, and the screen went blank

* * *

_Later that night at the he Kurosaki residence_

Ichigo was having one of his many arguments will the illegal mod-soul Kon, when his badge began flashing and whistling again. Ichigo sighed, "Here we go again," he muttered, as he used the seal to separate his soul from his body. Then he used the seal on the stuffed lion Kon inhabited, and popped the soul pill into his own body's mouth

"Take care of my body, Kon," ordered Ichigo as he jumped out the window.

* * *

_Same time: Naruto's motel room_

The sound of the relay station beeping, woke Naruto instantly, stumbling over to the screen, he gazed at the read out, which informed him that at least ten hollow's were going to emerge in various parts of Karakura town within ten minuets.

"Damn it," he swore as he searched for his soul glove. Once he was out of his modified gigai, he took off towards the closest hollow he could sense.

* * *

_Back with Ichigo_

Ichigo leapt from his window intent on heading right to the closest hollow he could sense, but as soon as he landed on his neighbor's roof, he paused. Something felt wrong, "_What is this feeling," _he wondered before he sensed a presence.

"Che," whispered a soft voice behind Ichigo, followed immediately by the sound of a sword leaving a sheath.

Quickly bringing Zangetsu to bear as he spun around, Ichigo quickly blocked an assailant's katana, surprised at the strength of the strike, and the force pressing down on his large blade.

"Bastard," spat Ichigo as he looked at his attacker.  
Before him stood a blond haired man, clad in a in a white button up shirt, and gray slacks.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Ichigo, then he looked at the sword still pressing down on Zangetsu, "How the hell do you have a Zanpakutō?"

The man smiled and held his index finger up to his lips, "Shhh, Kurosaki Ichigo," the stranger said softly. "Don't make so much noise, someone with as much reiatsu as you shouldn't create commotions so easily." "It will echo through out the world, and affect others."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, "What the hell do you mean affect others?" he demanded roughly.

The man frowned in annoyance, "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

Ichigo scowled, and with a monumental amount of effort managed to distance himself from the strange man, who, for a moment, seemed distracted by something in the distance.

"Who the hell are you," demanded Ichigo again.

The man smiled again, and hefted his zanpakuto over his shoulder, "Jeez, what a pain in the ass, do you really want to know who I am so badly?" He lifted his free hand to his forehead, and white spirit particles began condensing into a terrifyingly familiar shape.

"See; check it out," said the man as Ichigo's blood ran cold." "Recognize this?"

"A hollow mask?" choked out Ichigo fearfully.

"That's right, see a Zanpakutō and a Hollow mask, do you understand?" his assailant questioned. "I am a shinigami who has trespassed into Hollow territory, I am a Vaizard, I am your kin, and my name is Hirako Shinji."

"Come to our side, Ichigo,"Shinji continued, "Come with me, and I can teach you to control the hollow you've been hiding and running from.

Ichigo still stunned by the enigmatic man's revelation was unable to reply. Abruptly Shinji's smile slipped, and he banished his Hollow Mask.

* * *

_ Naruto_

Naruto quickly dispatched the last Hollow he had encountered easily. He gratefully noted the reiatsu of Ichigo's friends taking care of the Hollows in other parts of the city, and breathed a sigh of relief. Closing his eyes he searched for Ichigo's location, frowning when he felt am abnormal foreign reiatsu close to the boy.

"_This reiatsu, why does it feel familiar,"_ he thought confused. Before he could move towards his charge, the other person's reiatsu vanished. Concerned, Naruto opened his eyes, and he caught sight of Ichigo's physical body running from a large furry hollow. The odd reiatsu was put out of his head, as he chased after the Hollow.

Catching up quickly, he was just in time to see Not-Ichigo stumble, and fall, and the hollow lunge forward. Reacting quickly he mustered up a large amount of reiatsu, before bellowing, "**Bakudō no Hachijyu Ichi: Danku."**

A rectangular, semi-transparent, energy barrier shimmering into existence, right over the prone form of Ichigo's body, instantly stopping the attacking Hollow's fist cold.

Naruto sighed in relief, and flash stepped directly in front of the monster, although it had the perfectly circular hole in its chest, signifying it was indeed a hollow, strangely it had muscular human arms, and its mask was opened up revealing a human face.

"I have no interest in you, shinigami," rumbled the odd Hollow, "I only want to kill Kurosaki Ichigo."

Naruto frowned, "Don't care, you're a Hollow and it's my job to purify you," he said coldly.

At the man's words the Hollow began to laugh, "Surely you don't think I'm just some normal Hollow," the creature lifted its hand towards its mask, "Watch."

Right before Naruto and Ichigo's eyes, the strange Hollow shattered it's own mask, and was engulfed in a white light, briefly, which expanded quickly to huge proportions.

"Witness the true form of my power," bellowed the newly transformed Hollow. It had grown bigger than many of the buildings it stood next to, and now sported twin bone white tusk-like appendages, jutting from its shoulders.

"What the hell are you?" yelled Naruto, genuinely surprised and a little afraid of this new development.

"I am an Arrancar," declared the Hollow, cryptically, "And this," he began as he reached for something behind himself, "Is my Zanpakutō." The creature drew a massive sword, easily four times taller that Naruto himself.

"_Impossible, Hollows can't have Zanpakuto, it makes no sense_," thought Naruto, as he looked at the Arrancar's weapon.

"A Zanpakutō?" questioned the artificial side Ichigo's body, "It's freaking huge."

"That's right!, the size of a Zanpakutō is proportional to the amount of reiryoku of he who wields it," the Arrancar declared.

Naruto smirked at the misinformed creature, "_Oh, how wrong you are,"_ he thought snidely.

"It's obvious that you can't beat me with your puny little Zanpakutō," the Arrancar sneered.

"Never know until you try," Naruto replied with a smirk, as he placed a hand onKoukon Munsezansun.

The Arrancar growled, and lifted it's sword to strike, and that's when Naruto acted. Channeling reiryoku into his legs and feet, he moved faster than the creature could see, and cut through the larger blade with his own, as easily as a hot knife cuts through butter.

Flash-stepping back to where he had been before, his Zanpakutō back in it's sheath, Naruto addressed the dumbfounded monster, "You seem to be a bit misinformed, most Captain class shinigami, such as my self, learn to control the size of their Zanpakutō, otherwise we would have to swing around a blade the size of a skyscraper." "You can't judge a person's strength by how big their Zanpakutō is."

Raising his hand, he spoke again, "Good bye Arrancar**, Hadō no Rokujyu San: Raikōhō!"**

A massive wave of yellow electric energy erupted from Naruto's hand, completely vaporizing the Arrancar.

Turning to face Ichigo's body, he asked, "Are a temporary soul inside Ichigo?"

The "temp soul" nodded quickly, "Good," replied Naruto, "I believe Ichigo will be expecting you to be home when he returns, goodbye,"

With that he shunpo'd away, leaving the Mod-soul known as Kon alone in the street.

* * *

_Meanwhile back with Ichigo_

For a brief moment, Ichigo considered the man's offer, frankly the Hollow that was locked inside his very soul terrified him, and the man, Shinji, was offering to help.

Then he suddenly felt a large reiatsu appear, turning away from Shinji, who had also noticed, he began to walk away.

"Hey, damn it, where are you going," demanded the surprised Shinji. "I ain't finished talking yet."

"I'll pass," Ichigo called back, not even bothering to turn around.

"I said I ain't done talking yet," yelled Shinji.

Ichigo stopped, and faced the other man, "What ever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it," he growled. "I don't care what kind of organization you Vizard's are; I have no desire to join you at all."

Shinji's smile disappeared instantly replaced by a hard glare, but Ichigo glared right back, "I am a shinigami," he declared. "Not one of you." He turned away again, and flash stepped away.

"You're wrong," said Shinji quietly to the air. He sighed and reached into his pocket, and drew out a green cell phone. Dialing quickly he waited for his companion to pick up.

"Hello, its Hirako, is this Lisa's cell phone," he joked. The person at the other end yelled something at him, "Sorry, wrong number," Shinji replied calmly. The person began screaming, so Shinji held his phone away, when the noise subsided he answered, "It's just a matter of time, let's be patient, all right Hiyori?"

* * *

_With Naruto_

After his encounter with the Arrancar, Naruto immediately returned to his motel room to contact Soul Society.

Quickly moving towards the screen, he immediately called his superior, to his annoyance he was greeting by the sleepy face of a 12th division lackey.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto, reporting in from the Human world," barked Naruto "Get Yamamoto in here immediately; tell him it's Priority One."

The startled lackey hurried out of the room, and returned with Yamamoto nearly ten minutes later.

"Out," ordered the Sōtaichō gravely, "Uzumaki-san what happened?"

"Earlier this night, a swarm of Hollow's randomly attacked Karakura, fortunately, Ichigo, his friends and I were able to purify them all, but that is not why I called, it seems that Soul Society faces a new threat, one called the Arrancar," responded Naruto

"I fought a large Hollow that not only smashed its own mask to transform, but also had its own Zanpakutō. When it broke it's mask, it's power increased exponentially.

Yamamoto's eyes fully opened at that statement, "Are you sure, about all of it?" he demanded.

"Yes, Sōtaichō, I am," replied Naruto solemnly.

"It seems that you will need to stay in the Human realm for a bit longer, and I will be sending additional forces tomorrow," said Yamamoto.

"Understood, I'll begin preparations immediately" finished Naruto somberly.

* * *

_And done…. Wheee, so not an actiony chapter, but it's needed to move the story along, bear with me here. _

_As always post a review, constructive criticism is welcome, but not flames, then I'll just bug the crap out of you with random messages all the time _

_**1. Bakudō no jyu shi: Seishuku Heya (Binding Spell 14: Silent Room)**_  
_**2. Bakudō no Hachijyu Ichi: Danku (Binding Spell 81: Splitting Void) **_  
_**3. Hadō no Rokujyu San: Raikōhō (Destructive Spell 63: Thunder Roar Canon)**_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hola readers, Jaden here with the latest chapter.  
_

_Any who blah blah blah, I don't own Naruto, Bleach, Rouruni Kenshin, DBZ, Negima, or Yu Yu Hakusho, or any other affiliated licensed productions _

* * *

The next day when he arrived at school, Naruto immediately noticed that something was bothering both Ichigo, and his friend Ishida Uryuu.  
"_What happened during last night's hollow attack_," wondered Naruto with concern for both of the humans. The blond shinigami in disguised noticed that throughout the whole day, both teens barely spoke a single word to anybody, each teen lost in his own respective little world.

After the last bell of the day had rung, Naruto caught up with Ichigo before the orange haired boy walked home.  
"Ichigo," Naruto said, as he dropped a hand on the other boy's shoulder, "Are you ok?"

Ichigo hesitated for a moment before replying, " Yeah, it's just during last night's attack, there was a Hollow who got close to my family, too close," he answered quietly, a deep, pensive frown set on his face.

Years of experience had taught Naruto when a person was withholding information, but he decided not to press the issue; he had his own concerns to deal with, namely his oncoming reinforcements.  
"All right," he said to the human brusquely after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, "But if you ever need to talk, you know how to reach me."

Ichigo nodded his head, "Yeah," he said distractedly, as he turned and began walking home.

Naruto watched him walk away for a moment, before heading in the opposite direction. After his discussion with Yamamoto the night before, he had packed up all of his equipment, and earlier that morning had rented a larger, three room apartment. "_Why do I get the feeling, that things are about to change drastically?" _he wondered to himself.

* * *

_Back with Ichigo

* * *

_

As he walked home from school, his mind was preoccupied with the conversation he had held with the man, named Hirako Shinji, the night before. He was coming close to his house when he stopped, something felt wrong. Something instinctively alerted the boy that someone was watching him.

"Yo Ichigo," called out a familiar voice from above, "Done with school already?"

Startled Ichigo leaped back, instinctively reaching for Zangetsu, only to grasp at air, while looking for the person who had addressed him. Identifying his addressee, his eyes narrowed, for lo and behold, there stood Hirako Shinji upside down in the air, his creepy too-wide smile fixed firmly in place.

"What the Hell are you doing?" demanded Ichigo confused, as he took in the odd sight of the man standing upside down in the air.

Shinji, as his form of reply, stuck out his tongue showing off his piercing, before vanishing, and reappearing instantaneously before Ichigo. "Now is that anyway to talk to a friend?" he asked sweetly.

"Hirako, stop screwing around and tell me why you're here," ordered Ichigo gruffly, as he grabbed the blond Vaizard's shirt. "The reason why you talked to me last night was to recruit me into your little group right?" "If that's the case today, then you have no reason to be here," he finished with a glare.

Shinji's smile disappeared, and his eyes went cold, "Idiot," he said flatly. "Surely you don't think I'll give up because of what happened yesterday, do ya?," Without waiting for a response, he continued, "I don't give up easily, besides it's already too late for you to really say no, once you've begun to show the symptoms of Hollowfication, you can never be normal, never be like them again."

Easily removing Ichigo's hand from his shirt, Hirako continued his speech, "No matter what you think, or how much you deny it, you are one of us now."

Stubbornly, Ichigo refused to reply, and Shinji, noticing this, sighed. "Orihime, Sado, Ishida, and Rukia, you consider them to be your friends don't you," he asked knowing exactly which of Ichigo's button's to push. "But if you keep on refusing my offer to help, you **will** lose your control, and will be swallowed by the Hollow inside, and when that happens, it's all over," he continued. "I can sense its power, it will kill your friends, your family, and it will destroy everything, even now, you and I can both tell, IT is too powerful for you to fully suppress anymore."

Ichigo went cold at the last statement; Shinji was right, he could literally feel the corruption inside his own soul fighting his will, demanding it's freedom.

Shinji noticed Ichigo's resolve waver for a moment, "Come with me, and we will make sure that it never controls you," he finished solemnly.

Despite a large part of himself wanting to take Shinji's offer, Ichigo still refused, no matter what Shinji said, he was a Shinigami; he wouldn't turn his back on that.  
"I'll control it my self," was all he said, as he walked away without a glance back.

* * *

"Geez, at this rate, he really is gonna end up killing everyone he cares about," muttered Shinji to himself, as he walked away. "Why do I have be the one on recruitment duty," he suddenly whined aloud, "It's not fair." Shinji was so caught up in his own misery that he didn't notice someone sneak up from behind.

"It's not......," began Shinji once more, before he was abruptly sent flying face-first into a brick wall. "Ow!" he moaned, as he picked himself up, and turned to face his assailant.

Standing in the alley, wearing a red track suit, yellow sandals, a sheathed Zanpakutō slung over her shoulder, and with a frown on her face, was his fellow blond Vaizard. "Hi-Hiyori," Shinji stuttered, fearfully as he locked eyes with the shorter girl.

Hiyori wordlessly kicked off one of her sandals, and grabbed it in mid air, before shunpoing directly in front of Shinji, slapping him right in the face. "What the hell are you wastin' time for here, ya dumb ass?" she roared, as she repeatedly beat on Shinji. "Where is Kurosaki Ichigo," she demanded forcefully as she pulled on his hair.

"Sorry, but he said no," whimpered Shinji fearfully, and wince when Hiyori tore out a good fistful of his hair.

"What the hell do you mean he said No," she screamed, slapping him again. "You go back to his house, and convince him right now!"

"I can't," moaned Shinji. "He refuses to listen to me!"

"Then I'll drag his sorry ass by force," shot back Hiyori angrily. She was about to continue, before both ex-shinigami detected two foreign reiatsu signatures drawing close. Dropping Shinji on his ass, she whirled around, coming face to face with Inoue Orihime, and Sado Yatsutora.

Before Ichigo's friends could speak, Hiyori crooked her index finger, motioning for Shinji to come closer, and he warily obliged. His reward for obeying was a headbutt, while she pulled his hair.

"Idiot!," yelled Hiyori, "How could you let yourself be followed?"

"Ano," interrupted Orihime, "Sado-kun, and I saw you talking with Ichigo earlier, and I knew that if I asked him about it, he'd only tell us not to worry about it, so I want to ask you, who are you, and what do you want with Ichigo."

"What? You think we're just gonna tell you?" asked Hiyori coldly. When neither human replied she sighed loudly.

"Sarugaki Hiyori," she said, then seeing their blank looks continued, "It's my name, and dumb ass over there is Hirako Shinji, now tell us yours."

"Inoue Orihime." "Sado Yatsutora." came the quick reply.

Hiyori scowled, "A princess, and a tiger," she said. "Pretty impressive names," she continued with a fake smile in suddenly place. "Well our names mean Monkey, and Common, I have to say we're both jealous."

"You don't know what you're talking about," muttered Shinji. "The only one whose jealous, is you, even I've got more going on for me."

Hiyori's eye twitched, as as a reply, she brutally punched Shinji in the nose, making it bleed profusely. "You've got such beautiful hair and a killer rack; now that I think about it I could really despise you," she said directly to Orihime.

"Instead of getting all worked up about her looks, maybe you should work on making yourself a little more desirable," mumbled Shinji as he held his nose gingerly.

Hiyori angrily punched him in the nose again before continuing, " Well, I guess it doesn't matter, we have nothing to tell you anyway."

"In fact," she began as she placed her hand on the hilt of her Zanpakutō, "It it would probably better for us if you two were dead."

Before she could take a step forward, Hiyori found herself slung over Shinji's shoulder as he ran at his top speed without utilizing shunpo.

Orihime tried to follow, but was held back by Sado, "Don't try to follow them, at their speed, you'd never catch up," he said seriously. "And let's face it, even if you could catch them, it would only end with you getting killed.

* * *

_At the same time with Shinji and Hiyori.

* * *

_

"What the hell were you thinking," demanded Shinji roughly as he left the ground and began running on the air, "If you'd hurt one of Ichigo's friends, he'd never come to us."

"SHUT UP!" yelled Hiyori, "Now put me down!"

"No!" Angrily Hiyori twisted, until she was face down, and pinched Shinji's ass hard."

"GAAAH," bellowed Shinji, nearly dropping the girl, "Don't freaking goose me!"

"Then freaking put me down!" demanded Hiyori again. As a reply Hiyori pinched him again, this time twice as hard, so Shinji retaliated, with an ass poke.

"BASTARD!" Hiyori screamed, "If you damage something down there, and ruin my chances of being a virgin bride, I'll kill you."

"Be quiet, or I'll give you a spanking too, little brats that don't do as they're told get spankings," retorted Shinji.

"What the hell did you call me," demanded Hiyori, as she pinched him once more, begining the cycle of violence anew. a

* * *

_Later

* * *

_

Hiyori had finally calmed down, and accepted her position slung over Shinji's shoulder, looking at the clouds, she spoke, "I hate humans," she murmured quietly.

"I know," replied Shinji sadly, his normal visage replaced with one of deep melancholy.  
"I hate shinigami too," Hiyori continued, as if she hadn't heard her companion

"I know," replied Shinji, while unbeknownst to him a single tear rolled down Hiyori's face, "_I don't hate him," _she thought."There's nothing we can do about it right now," said Shinji, "So just be patient, now come on we need to see Urahara."

* * *

**_Later that day, with Naruto, his new apartment  


* * *

_**

After setting up the relay station Naruto immediately contacted Yamamoto to give his daily report, "Yamamoto-sōtaichō, no Hollow attacks have occurred today, and I have procured lodgings for addition people, I'm ready for them.

"Very welly, but before we send them over, we must discuss the new threat that you will be facing," answered Yamamoto. "The higher echelons of Soul Society has been aware of the existence of arrancar for a very long time, they are hollows that have broken off their masks in an futile attempt to gain shinigami powers, for decades the arrancar haven't been a concern, the few that have been successful, have only become marginally stronger, but now that Aizen has the Hōgyoku, we believe that he will use it to form perfect arrancar.""It will be you, your reinforcements, and Kurosaki Ichigo's responsibility to protect Karakura Town from these abominations.

"Understood," replied Naruto. "Will my reinforcements be needing gigai?"

"Yes," answered Yamamoto, and even though I know you have a history with him, former captain Urahara Kisuke has been instructed to provide you with them." "Now I shall send the others immediately, you are dismissed," said Yamamoto before the screen went blank.

A few minuets passed in silence, then a Senkaimon doorway materialized in the center of the living room. Six black hell moths flew through the doors, followed shortly by five shinigami in the standard black shihakushō, and one wearing a Captain's white haori.

Naruto's reinforcements were Lieutenants Abarai Renji, and Matsumoto Rangiku, the Third and Fifth seats of the 11th Division Madarame Ikkaku and Yumichika Ayasegawa, Kuchiki Rukia from Division 13, and the Tenth division Captain Hitsugaya Tōshirō.

"Konbanwa," greeting Naruto breezily, "Welcome to my humble abode."

Ikkaku whistled as he looked around, "Nice place you got here Kidōshu-sama."

"Please just call me Naruto, formal titles make me feel weird," Naruto told the bald Shinigami. "Anyway it's nice to see all of you, even you Tōshirō-san," he quipped.

Hitsugaya visibly twitched, but refrained from ordering Naruto to call him Hitsugaya-taichō, "It's nice to see you as well, Naruto-san," he replied stiffly.

"Now then, I assume Yamamoto-taichō has informed you of your responsibilities," stated Naruto. After seeing their nods of confirmations, he continued, "After we go get your gigai, we'll go over who covers what part of the town.

* * *

Before walking into the Urahara shop, Naruto made sure he had a tight grasp on all of his excess spiritual energy, just to be safe, he didn't want to destroy the shop in case he lost his temper.

Walking into the shop he headed directly towards the room where he felt Urahara's reiatsu, and that of two other people, before calling out, "Urahara-teme, I'm here for the gigai Yamamoto-sotaichō ordered."

Throwing open the he froze, when he saw exactly who Urahara was speaking with.

* * *

Outside the other six shinigami waited for Naruto to return.

A minute after the blond walked into the shop, Rukia sank to her knees as a green pillar of fiery, uncontrolled, reitastu exploded out of the store stretching nearly a mile into the sky. A horrible feeling of bloodlust immediately followed, rushing out of the store in a suffocating wave of malice.

_

* * *

_

"YOU BASTARD!," Naruto roared as he rushed forward, "You fucking bastard," all semblance of self-control dissipating as his reiryoku exploded outwards into a visible pillar, blasting through the roof of the shop.

Urahara Kisuke blinked, and found himself pinned to the wall of his shop courtesy of Naruto's black gauntlet clad hand, whilst the white gauntlet hovered close to his eyes, blades of energy colored black and white within centimeters of his eyes.

Naruto was dimly aware of someone shouting his name, but he ignored them, fully intent on ending Urahara's life. "They told me, she was dead," he hissed to his captive. "I read the reports myself, you were caught experimenting on your fellow shinigami in order to perfect your precious Hōgyoku," he continued, spitting out the word Hōgyoku like a curse. "And they were locked in the Dangai Precipice, as their method of execution." He was about to continue his plan the kill the shop owner, when someone, or rather something, very rudely interrupted him.

**SLAP**

Naruto reeled back reflexively releasing Kisuke as Sarugaki Hiyori slapped him with her sandal right in the face.

"You idiot!" she shrieked either in anger or fear, it was hard to tell, "Let him go before you really kill him." She was about to slap him again, when Naruto caught her arm, and pulled her close, "Whose the idiot, brat?" he asked shakily, as he hugged her tightly, afraid that she might disappear again.

"You are," whispered Hiyori as she wrapped her arms around him, then she gently pulled back a little, and kissed him softly.

* * *

The two stayed pressed together for a moment, before Naruto regretfully pulled away, whirling around to face Urahara, who was madly fanning himself, and he barked out, "You, go get those gigai, I'll deal with the others." Motioning for Hiyori and Shinji to sit, he strode out of the room heading directly outside.

"What happened?" demanded Hitsugaya Tōshirō, the moment Naruto stepped out of the shop.

"Urahara and I had a disagreement over something," Naruto responded flatly, unwilling to divisible any more information.

"Over wha," began Rukia, before Naruto cut her off, "That is none of your concern," he said coldly.

"Urahara-san will be out shortly with your gigai, and then you will leave," Naruto ordered to the others," He and I have private matters to discuss." "If I catch any of you attempting eavesdrop, I'll make sure your demoted to the lowest rank possible is that understood!" His fellow shinigami nodded mutely.

At that moment Urahara and two children stepped outside, each carrying two empty gigai which they wordlessly distributed. The six officers immediately slipped inside their artificial bodies, and at Naruto's insistent glare, walked away.

Once he was sure the others had left Naruto turned back to Urahara, "I think it's time the truth came out," he said softly, and walked back inside, sitting down directly beside Hiyori.

* * *

"Every record that Soul Society has on the Incident, is false," began Urahara somberly. "I didn't use the Hōgyoku on the others for an experiment, I did it to save their lives."  
At Naruto's questioning look, he continued, "When souls started disappearing, leaving only their clothes behind, Souls Society dispatched several investigation teams to the Rukongai to get to the bottom of things." "When the investigation teams started disappearing the Ninth Division Captain Kensei Muguruma, and his Lieutenant Mashiro Kuna took it upon themselves to investigate the disappearances themselves. When the 12th Division team monitoring their reiatsu reported that Kensei and Mashiro had also vanished Yamamoto-soutaichō called an emergency Captains and Lieutenants meeting."  
"Captains Shinji Hirako of the 5th Division, Love Aikawa of the 7th Division and Rōjūrō Otoribashi of the 3rd Division, along with Lieutenants Hachigen Ushōda, of the Kidō Corps, Lisa Yadōmaru of the 8th division and my own Lieutenant were sent out to find out where the others had disappeared to," Urahara finished.

"I was the last to arrive at the last known location of Mashiro and Kensei, and when I arrived I found the others fighting this immensely powerful hollow," began Hiyori."At first it was too dark to see what we were fighting, but when the sky cleared, we saw that it was Kensei, he'd become some sort of hybrid hollow." "In that moment, when I realized exactly who it was that I was fighting, I paused, was almost killed, fortunately Hachigen was able to put up a barrier in front of me," Hiyori paused briefly, and then continued, "It took a lot of work, but eventually the six of us were able to subdue Kensei, and that was when Mashiro attacked, Rose was almost killed before we managed to subdue her as well, that was when things for me went black," she broke off, and Shinji took up the story.

"Hiyori began to hollowfy as well," said Shinji, "She began attacking us while a white mask began forming on her face, the others and I were trying to subdue her when we were surrounded by a pitch black darkness that cut off all of our senses, after the darkness lifted I was the only one still conscious to see that it was all Kaname Tōsen, Kensei's 6th Seat, using his Bankai against us." "The others were going through various stages of Hollowfication, when Aizen showed up with Gin Ichimaru, in tow." "That smug bastard told me how he was behind it all and that he had been manipulating me from the start using his Zanpakutō's special ability. "He ordered Tōsen to get rid of Hiyori but I stopped him, even then with the hollowfication still incomplete the power I had was incredible, I damn near killed the traitorous bastard right then, but Aizen did something to me, and the Hollowfication sped up forcing me to stop." Tōsen was about to kill me when Kisuke-san and Tsukabishi-san stopped him."

Urahara picked the story up again, "Neither Tessai-san, nor myself were comfortable with the decision to send out the Lieutenants, but we were practically ordered not to help out, of course I wasn't going to let that stop me, so using special reiatsu shielding cloaks Tessai-san and myself slipped away from our divisions, and headed for the others." "When we arrived just as Tōsen was about to cut down Shinji-san, luckily I was able to stop him, when Aizen recognized me, he smiled and told Tōsen and Gin that it was time to leave." "Tessai-san tried to stop them with a _**Hiryugekizokushintenraiho, **_but Aizen negated it with a **_Danku_**, and the three of them fled." "With the others in their condition neither of us could pursue them, Tessai-san knew that we needed to get them back to my division so he made a choice to use the _**Jikanteishi**_ and the**_ Kukanten' i _s**pells to bring them there.""It took me hours, even with the Hōgyoku to stabilize them, but in the end I was successful, it was at that point that the Onmitsukidō arrived.

Urahara laughed bitterly before continuing, "They took the others who were unconscious straight to a prison cell, while Tessai-san and myself were brought front of the Central Central 46 Chambers in a farce of a trial, orchestrated by Aizen." "I was sentenced to become human and to be exiled to the Human World for "committing crimes against researching and invoking forbidden phenomenon" as well as "deceiving and inflicting grievous injury to my fellow Shinigami, Tessai was sentenced to life imprisonment in a Level 3 detention area for using the Forbidden Spells, before either of our sentences could be executed our friend Yoruichi rescued us, and brought us to one of my old underground training areas, where she had stashed the others she had also rescued." Urahara smiled before continuing,  
"She was so pissed that we hadn't brought her along, you see, but she understood." "Working as quickly as possible, I crafted ten reiatsu blocking gigai for us, while Tessai kept us hidden, when I was finished, Tessai-san opened a Senkaimon for us, and we've been hiding in the Human world ever since."

Naruto blinked once, and sighed heavily before speaking," I'll kill him," he seethed, "I'll tear that murdering bastard apart."

Hiyori squeezed his hang gently, "I know how you feel," she said with a sardonic smile. Naruto looked at her gratefully before speaking again, "Well that explains why you guys are alive, but why are you here?"

"We're here for Ichigo," replied Shinji easily. "We need to teach him how to control his Inner Hollow, or else its gonna go out of control."

"Good luck with that," laughed Naruto. "That brat's so stubborn that his Hollow will have to take over before he comes to you for help."

Shinji sighed, "I was afraid of that, still we're gonna need him, he's the only one with who can deal the finishing blow to Aizen, we've all seen his Shikai."

Naruto frowned, he had forgotten that tiny detail. He was about to stand up before he turned to Hiyori, "I just thought of this, but why do you look like that?" he asked.

As Hiyori's expression grew dark, Naruto intervened, "I meant why do you look the same age as you did a hundred years ago?" "I mean look at me, I look about 7 years older, why don't you?" Hiyori's anger abruptly turned to embarrassment, and she turned her head to the side.

"....," she mumbled incoherently.

"What was that?" asked Naruto lightly, a smile on his lips.

"I said it was to remind me of you," she replied hotly, still not facing him. "Shinji," she barked, "Get out." When Vaizard didn't move, she slapped him hard, and yelled, "GET OUT."

This time Shinji did leave, muttering darkly under his breath,..... something about evil little monkeys.

When she was sure Shinji had left, Hiyori reached for her Zanpakutō, which was sitting against the wall behind her, and tapped the hilt against her forehead.

Her gigai crumpled, and Naruto was greeted by the sight of a very different Sarugaki Hiyori. Her true form was of a very attractive 19 year old looking woman in a shihakusho, about 5'9, her short stubby pigtails replaced by mid length golden hair. Time had filled her out very nicely with a nice rear, and full c-cup breasts and Naruto had to fight to keep his nose from bleeding. She turned to Naruto, and smiled gently, "I asked Kisuke-san to keep my gigai the same age, as a way to remind me of the time we spent together," she explained.

Naruto smiled brightly, in a way that he hadn't in years, before standing up swiftly and pulling her into another kiss, "I missed you so much," he whispered.

"I missed you to," she whispered back.

With a sigh Naruto stepped back, "I have got to get going, the others are probably getting worried," he said.

Hiyori nodded, before she she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen off the table, and quickly wrote something on it, "Come to this address soon," she said.

Naruto kissed her once more, before walking out of the room, and left the shop with a quick shunpo.

* * *

_....And done! Whew this chapter was long, but the story marches onward  
_

_Now for a quick new term explanation.  
_

**_1. Hiryugekizokushintenraiho_**:_Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon: Fires a gigantic electricity blast of spiritual energy resulting in an truly enormous explosion._**  
2.__**** Jikanteish**i: _Temporal Stasis_:_A forbidden spell that halts time in a specific area_**  
3.__**** Kūkanten'i**:_Spatial Displacement_:_A forbidden spell used to teleport a specified portion of space from one point to another, capable of transporting even other active Kidō s_


	7. Chapter 7

_Greeting readers, Jaden here with the latest chapter of Kidocho Redux!  
Sorry about the delay in this chapter, I was working on my other fan fic, but you guys aren't here for this part...  
_

_ Now then on with the story.

* * *

__  
_After leaving Urahara's shop Naruto immediately headed back to his apartment. He knew that other Shinigami would need to be placated, and he still had to assign them patrol areas.  
Fortunately, the complex wasn't too far from the Shop, so he manged to get there in a few quick Shunpo jumps.  
With a soft _woosh_ he appeared in front of the door, and the chatter he could discern through the wood immediately died away.

"I'm back," he called out as he walked inside; he was immediately met with half a dozen glaring eyes.

"Mind telling us what the hell that was about?" demanded Hitsugaya frostily, immediately getting to the point.

Naruto's turned to Hitsugaya, his cerulean eyes boring into the white haired Captain's turquoise orbs, "I believe I told you earlier, my business with Uruhara Kisuke was private," Naruto said, his eyes and tone void of emotion.

Hitsugaya was about to say something, but Naruto, who had grown annoyed, flared his reiatsu, reminding everyone in the room exactly why he was considered to be stronger than Kenpachi,  
"Enough," he said.

Reigning in his reiatsu, he turned to the others and addressed them as a whole. "We need to figure out who should patrol what, and make sure we can all contact each other in case of an emergency."

Despite their indignation at being rebuked, the remaining Shinigami nodded, wisely deciding not to push the issue.

* * *

_Later  
_

Underneath a Karakura warehouse, in an impossible training room the ex-Captain Urahara Kisuke had built, a battle raged between two blond figures. Aside from their hair color, the two fighters were near polar opposites, being both different genders and different heights,  
The two fighters repeatedly clashed high in the air, the shriek of steel meeting steel continually ringing as their katana repeatedly clashed. Then abruptly the flow of the battle changed.

When the two clashed again this time they didn't immediately spring away from each other, instead this time they kept their blades pressed together. "Why don't we kick this up a notch," the shorter, female figure asked with a wicked smile .

"All right, but no complaining if you get hurt Hiyori-chan," the tall male, one Uzumaki Naruto, replied cheekily.

Hiyori growled in response, and brutally kicked Naruto as hard as she could.

Surprised by his girlfriend's swift assault Naruto was caught off guard and nearly crashed into the ground, only managing to catch himself a scant five feet above the ground.  
It was at that moment that Naruto sensed Hiyori's reiatsu shifting, becoming intermixed with the reiatsu of a Hollow.

Glancing at sky he looked at the Hollowfied girl, and even though he knew and loved her, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear.

Hiyori stood in the sky wrapped in an aura of pink reiatsu, with a bone white mask covering her face. The mask sported large purple diamond-like markings across the brow, and featured a rather prominent horn, much like a rhinoceros.

"**_Get ready," _**Hiyori said, her voiced distorted as if there were two of her speaking at once.

Before Naruto could move she vanished from his sight reappearing directly overhead.

With a speed borne from years of practice, Naruto managed to get his blade up in time to block the overhead slash. At close range, Naruto could see that the sclera of Hiyori's eyes were an inky black, and her pupils burned gold. It was a little disconcerting.

With an reiatsu charged, inhuman feat of strength Naruto threw Hiyori off his sword, and immediately vanished with an instantaneous shunpo.

Hiyori recovered quickly immediately searching for Naruto, but the other blond was nowhere in sight. _**"Where are you," **_Hiyori growled, not expecting an answer.

"Up here," came the unexpected reply from above.

**_"What?"_** said Hiyori as she looked up, seeing Naruto standing high above her, his palm which was glowing with intense yellow light aimed at her.

"Hadō no Sanjyu Ni: Ōkasen*," Naruto bellowed, and from his palm a wide arc of energy blasted forward.

**_"Shit!,"_** yelled Hiyori as she saw the incoming attack.  
Forcing as much reiryoku in to her arms as he could, she brought her sealed sword around to bear, just in time to keep from being bifurcated.

The energy attack pushed against the Zanpakutō with titanic force, slowly but surely forcing Hiyori to the ground. Finally when she was about a foot above the ground the energy dissipated, leaving Hiyori unharmed.

**_"Hah, hah,"_** panted Hiyori as she caught her breath.

"Ready to give up?"Naruto taunted jovially.

**_"The hell I am," _**roared Hiyori, catching her second wind, blurring away in an instant.

"What the..." Naruto had just enough time to utter these words before Hiyori appeared inside his guard, landing a punch to his gut that knocked the wind clean out of him.

**_"You wanna play rough, fine."  
_**

After crash landing on the ground hard, Naruto gasped as he forced the air back into his lungs. Shaking off his disorientation, he turned back to his opponent, only to find her charging an orb of red light from the tip of her mask's horn.

"No way," Naruto breathed in awe, "A Cero, you guys can fire Cero?"

Hiyori ginned wickedly under her mask**_ "Oh yeah." _**  
That was all the warning Naruto got, as Hiyori unleashed the distinctly Hollow attack, the orb exploding into into a massive beam-like attack.

Naruto had barely had time to cross his arms, but an instant before the Cero struck he was surrounded by a green barrier, that looked like it was formed from translucent emerald honey comb plates.

The crimson Cero slammed into Naruto's barrier with enough concussive force to shatter the ground he was standing on. The barrier held the Cero at bay for a few seconds, but then cracks started to appear along the honeycomb style plates.

A few heart beats later both the barrier and the Cero exploded, a massive cloud of dust blasting high into the air.

**_'Take that," _**huffed Hiyori after she had landed back on the ground, she had pumped all of her remaining reiryoku into the Cero and was almost completely tapped out.  
Focusing on her boyfriend's reiatsu, she was pleased to note it was lower than her own; confident that he was bested, she let her mask disintegrate. "I win," she declared proudly.

"Hadō no Yon: Byakurai*," said Naruto, his voice drifted out of the cloud faintly, followed by a thin beam of white lightning.

The electric attack slammed into the girl, caught completely off guard, and knocked her flat on her ass...a good twenty feet away.

The dust cloud the Cero had kicked up settled, revealing a lightly singed Naruto lying on his belly with a wide grin on his face, "I think we can call this one a tie," he said with a tired smile.

As a reply Hiyori weakly raised her right arm, and flipped him off. Naruto chuckled before he hopped to his feet, and shuffled over to her.

After he dropped next to her, Hiyori shifted so her head was laying in his stomach.

"Well that was fun," Naruto murmured as he absently ran his fingers through her hair.

Hiyori replied with something completely unintelligible as she drifted off to sleep. Naruto joined her in the land of dreams a little later.

* * *

_Later_

Naruto's eyes snapped open. Two massive reiatsu signatures had suddenly materialized in the northern part of Karakura Town. The beings emitting the powerful signatures were obviously very strong, and definitely hostile.

He immediately exploded into motion, running out of the training room as fast as he could, shouting an apology at a rather irate Hiyori.  
He passed by the Vizard, as they called themselves, wordlessly. It was not yet time for them to reveal their existence in Karakura Town, after all Soul Societey still considered the eight former Shinigami to be traitors.

The moment he was out of the warehouse, Naruto shunpo'd, heading straight towards the enemy. As he traveled he sensed Ichigo arriving, and allowed himself to feel a small sense of relief.

A short time later the sense of relief died as he felt Ichigo release his Bankai, he knew the teen wouldn't have done so with out a reason. Then he felt Ichigo's reiatsu change.  
The boys normal warm shinigami reiatsu spiked strongly, but now felt dark and oppressive, then it switched back.

"Shit," Naruto cursed, forcing himself to go faster. For a few moments he could feel Ichigo's reiatsu fluctuating, then it dropped to a dangerously low level.

Finally he was within sight, but it wasn't good. Ichigo lay bruised and battered before a bald, one armed giant of a man, who sported the broken remnants of a hollow mask on the lower part of his face.  
Behind the giant, a smaller figure stood silent, his emerald eyes empty. The smaller man also sported the remnants of a hollow mask, this one looking rather like a helmet, on the left side of his head.  
Both figures wore stark white clothing, and each had a sheathed sword on their person. Naruto knew immediately that these beings were Arrancar.

The giant moved to deliver the final strike against Ichigo, and that's when Naruto acted, forming a barrier spell as he moved.

"Bakudō no Hachijyu Ichi: Danku*," whispered Naruto, as he materialized directly in front of Ichigo, a translucent wall of energy appearing less than a second later, completely nullifying the giant's attack. "Phew, that was close," he said to Ichigo casually, while the giant took a step back.

"Sorry I'm so late," he continued as he dismissed the barrier, "But you see I got lost on the road of life, as a friend of mine used to say."

"Che, more and more people keep butting in," the giant man interrupted. Naruto frowned, and looked around. Sure enough there were other unconscious people around, namely one Inoue Orihime, Sado Yatsutora, and another one of Ichigo's friends.

"Well now, you did this?" Naruto asked softly, the giant couldn't tell, but there was a dangerous edge to his tone.

"Hell yeah I did," the giant roared, "And you're next!" He moved to attack, but by then Naruto was already gone.

"You know, I hate guys like you," said Naruto, his voice coming from behind his opponent. The giant whirled around, but instantly found himself wrapped in chains.

Naruto stared at his opponent silently before drawing his sword, _"_Sit between the Darkness and the Light: Koukon Munsezansun," Naruto intoned as he ran his left palm along the flat of the Zanpakutō. For a second his sword was outlined with an almost blinding white light, which then quickly faded to a deep black, then the blade shattered into hundreds of glowing black and white black particles surrounded his right arm, the white surrounded his left. A moment later the particle's lights dissipated and Naruto revealed his Shikai to his his arms were what appeared to be the arm pieces of medieval armor, surrounding his right arm was an ebony-metal triple layered pauldron. A re-bracer,a couter, and a vambrace flowed from his shoulder to his forearm, while his hand was covered by a studded metal gauntlet with four small knuckle spikes. His left arm sported an identical armoring, but colored a pure white.

A heartbeat after his Shikai was released, the giant flared his crimson reiatsu, and shattered the chains binding him. "Like some weak ass technique is gonna stop me," he growled.

Naruto didn't deign to respond, instead he acted. Moving at eye popping speed, he slipped right under the giants guard, and delivered a brutal uppercut to his stomach, strong enough to actually lift the huge Arrancar off it's feet.

A second later he was gone, this time appearing behind his opponents head, and axe kicked him, forcing the enemy to it's knees.  
Naruto stood there, behind his enemy, exactly like a god of death, then he stretched out his right metal-clad index finger.

A small ball of fire, about four inches in diameter, materialized on the tip of his finger, and he leveled it at the back of his enemies head.  
"Hadō no Shichijyu Ni: Bāningu Kiba*," Naruto said coldly

Before anything could happen, a slender, pale arm, pushed Naruto's arm straight up, and the spell he had been about to fire rocketed into the sky, flying out of sight. The owner of said pale arm, was the other Arrancar, who up until then had done nothing. Naruto was shocked, he hadn't sensed the second's Arrancar's approach at all.

This Arrancar's emerald eyes bored into Naruto's cerulean orbs, up close Naruto could see that he possessed green markings running down from his eye lids, like tattooed tear streaks. The green-eyed Arrancar disappeared from Naruto's sight faster than he could see, with a slight _buzz_ sound, fraction of a second later, the larger Arracar was gone too.

Surprised, Naruto whirled around, only to see the two enemies a short distance away. "Come, Yammy it's time to go," ordered the green-eyed Arrancar.

"What the hell are you going on about, Ulquiorra?" demanded Yammy, "I can take care of these weaklings."

"Fool," replied Ulquiorra flatly, "That's Uzumaki Naruto right in front of you, in your current form, he'd destroy you." Yammy frowned, but he knew Ulquiorra was right, and so stayed silent.

Ulquiorra traced a horizontal line in the air, and a strange black line appeared. The line quickly started growing, before widening, forming a hollow technique, the Garuganta.

"Oh, running away," prodded Naruto sarcastically, "And why should I let you go?"

"Such provocation is unnecessary, Uzumaki Naruto," stated Ulquiorra. "It's obvious that you can't fight the two of us, and protect the trash around you." Naruto scowled, but didn't move to attack.

The Garuganta enveloped the two Arracar, and Ulquiorra spoke again, his words directed towards the injured Ichigo. "I'm going to go report in to Aizen-sama."  
"I'm going to tell him that the Shinigami he had his eyes set on is trash that isn't even worth killing," then the Garuganta slipped shut.

At that moment the other Shinigami who were stationed at in Karakura arrived. "Kidōshū Sōshi-sama," cried Rukia, "Are you alright?"

Naruto mentally dismissed his Shikai, which reformed into his katana, and sheathed it, before responding, "I'm fine," he said tiredly, "But some of you need to take care of Ichigo and his friends."

* * *

A few days later...

Things had calmed down around Karakura Town, nothing out of the ordinary had happened since Ulquiorra and Yammy had visited. Naruto had dutifully given his report to Yamamoto, and was instructed to continue with his posting.

All of the Shinigami made sure they were prepared for anything, but even so, after days of nothing happening, people tend to get lax.

So it was understandable how six Arrancar, who were suppressing their power, managed to slip into Karakura Town one night.

* * *

_There you have it, the latest chapter of __Kidōch__ō __Redux. As you guys can see the plot thickens...  
As always please leave a review, telling me what you think. Constructive criticism is ok, I welcome any opportunity to improve my writing, but no flames. If you don't like my work don't read it. _

_Now for a listing of special terms  
_

_Shunpo, (__Flash steps_): a movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow, training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move.

_Hadō no Sanjyu Ni: Ōkasen, (Way of Destruction 32: Yellow Fire Flash): _Fires a wide arc of yellow energy at a target

_Cero, (Zero)_: a powerful blast of concentrated Hollow spiritual energy used by Hollows, Arrancar, and Vizard

_Hadō no Yon: Byakurai, (Way of Destruction: Pale Lightning): _the user fires a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from their finger.

_Bakudō no Hachijyu Ichi: Danku_ (_Way of Binding 81: Splitting Void): _An_ e_nergy barrier in the form of a rectangular wall capable of stopping destructive spells up to #89

_Hadō no Shichijyu Ni: Bāningu Kiba (Way of Destruction 72: Burning Fang)_ A powerful fire projectile that takes the form of a fang when fired, it pierces and burns the victim_ (note this is a spell of my own creation)_


End file.
